Red Creek

((I've never made a forum on this site. If I'm doing this wrong, someone please tell me and I'll correct my error.))

It was a pleasant day in the town of Red Creek. The wind made the leaves of the maple trees rustle slightly, as if they were stirred from a sleep before falling still again when the gust passed. The water of the river that ran through the middle of town -- for which the town had been named "Red Creek" due to the reddish hue of the river rocks -- was calm, only disturbed by the occasionally fish splashing to the surface and the children who played around the stream.

The town was small, with only a couple residential districts -- each house neither small nor large, and all of them quaint, Victorian-style homes -- all surrounding the single shopping district, which was lined with quaint bakeries, inviting coffee shops, small cafés, a marketplace, and homey diners. It was the kind of town where everyone knew each other, and where many of these residents had lived for as long as they could remember. The streets, which were two-lane at best, were crowded not by cars but by bicycles and foot traffic. In the middle of the town square was a pond, where ducks puttered about lazily. The pond was of indeterminate depth, but there was undoubtedly something lurking, submerged under the water. This concerned no one, as the occasional surfacing of a scaly tail or reptilian face was as familiar and normal to the residents as the town itself.

The shade of the trees combined with the semi-cool breeze that blew through town made it a perfect summer's day, a rare one that was neither too hot nor too cool. Still, Alice seemed moodier than she was most days -- not that it made a difference, since she never seemed to be in a pleasant mood. The 19-year-old, freckle-faced girl smiled superficially as she handed an iced coffee to one of the patrons of the small café and bakery that Alice worked at.

((You're doing just perfectly!))

Marking this wonderfully temperate day in Red Creek was the return of a strange frequenter to the town. He certainly didn't have a proper home there, but the small-town atmosphere and the friendly community brought the quirky vagabond that was Kit back in fits and spurts. The weather was enjoyable when it was like this, and he just couldn't resist keeping up to date with the ever-changing faces of a town that was so friendly to his kind.

In desperate search of a place to sit down, he entered a homely looking cafe. The large pack on his back was more books than the necessities of life, lovely books that he had yet to tote off to wherever it was he hoarded his collection for safe keeping. The café didn't appear to be overly busy, so he picked a table and set the pack down with a solid thud before heading to the counter.

"Good afternoon, Madame, may I have a cup of coffee?" Kit greeted the rather disinterested-looking, silver-haired girl behind the counter.

Alice was just about to go on break when the boy asked her for a cup of coffee. For a second, she was torn between getting it over with and having someone else do it. After a moment, she smiled thinly -- somewhat annoyed, but it was hardly detectable -- and made a cup of coffee for the man. To preserve the feeling of home in the café, those who ordered were given ceramic coffee cups, and because of this there was only a single size option. This, Alice thought, made the work easier for her.

She set the mug down gently on the counter and told him the price. While waiting, she tried to make small talk. "That's a pretty big pack," she observed, casting her eyes towards the bag that she had seen him set down by the table.

((Before I do or say anything, a warning: this is my first forum-based rp ever, and my first rp in months. So I may not seem all that into it, or I may not perform as well as expected. Hopefully, as time goes on, this will change.))

Stepping out of his front door into the warm summer’s day, Mason thought to himself what he should do. It was his first real day in the quaint little town of Red Creek. Sure, he had driven in the previous night, but he had gone to bed almost as soon as he had arrived. This was his first real time seeing the town as it was – or at least, as he thought it was.

As he walked down the small street by his house, crowded by bicycles, he nodded in greetings to a man. A fairly hairy man. However, Mason would not let this bother him. He would enjoy his first day in town. He would find some inspiration for his first piece. Ignoring the oddness, he continued on down the street.

Walking past a small café, Mason glanced through a window on his way by. Toying with the idea of a cup of coffee to start off his day, he quickly changed his mind. He had never been a big fan of coffee. And so he continued on his way.

As he walked slowly down the sidewalk, Mason looked upwards to the sky. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the warm feeling of the sunshine on his face. He just knew that this would be a good day.

Once he was told the price, Kit began digging through his pockets for the currency. That was a bit of a problem he had; he wasn't terribly poor, but he never took the time to ensure his money was all in one place, let alone appropriate to the country. He set a few odd coins on the counter before producing a pair of correct dollars, one folded up into an origami crane and then other crumpled up as though it had been living in the bottom of his pocket for a while.

The mention of the pack lit up Kit's green eyes, distracting him before he could find the rest of the change for the coffee. "It's full of books!" he stated. After tossing the rolled up blanket from the top of the pack, he produced from it a small, but lengthy book and brought it back to the counter. It was an old copy of Don Quixote, hard cover and full of pen illustrations, as he showed by flipping through a few pages. There were also a few smaller pieces of art, old paintings, circus tickets, and handouts, tucked in between the pages.

"Oh, sorry." Kit noticed he still had to finish paying for the coffee and found a few quarters to place on the counter.

When Kit placed the coins on the table, Alice held one up and scrunched her nose, examining the foreign currency. His excitement as he showed her one of the books that had been contained in his pack made the corners of her mouth quirk up into a small smile. She made change for him, speaking as she did so. "That's... pretty weird." Despite what she said about the illustrations and small objects contained in the book, Alice's tone carried traces of amusement.

The coin was a fifty cent euro piece. Most of the strange currency was European or Canadian, save for one coin that appeared Chinese. Once Alice was finished looking at it and had handed him his change, Kit dropped the whole lot back into his pocket, not bothering to sort them out.

"They're all for sale," he informed, pausing on one of the pages he was distractedly flipping through to read to himself a random line of text that had caught his eye. Done with that, his eyes flicked up to the barista, and he shut the book. "My apologies. Thank you for the coffee." Kit smiled and took the book and the cup of coffee back to his table. Ceramic, he noticed. That was just wonderful.

Goodness, if there was one thing he didn't need, it was coffee.

( sorry for being late!)

Pandora walked into the cafe with high hopes. It had been a while since she had been in Red Creek, but she was here now. She turned to see a girl, sitting alone at one of the tables. She walked over to her and gave her a smile, "I love that book." She says, eying the cover, "Can I sit?"

" sure" she said looking at the person who talked to her. " my name is rose petel whats yours" she asked smiling hidding her fangs. she loved meeting new people it gave her joy

Pandora smiles at Rose, "I'm Pandora Tiller." She says, "It's nice to meet you."

Meanwhile, Alice had gone on break. She walked briskly through the streets. Her purpose was too important for her to spend time dawdling; the young woman was on her way to see a group of people that she had known since she moved to Red Creek, all of whom had the same lycanthropic curse as her. She had known them for as long as she'd been in the town, which was only a couple years, and though she didn't like them much, they were the only werewolf pack in town.

As she was heading to meet them, a stranger caught her eye. There were many strangers that she had seen that day, and she didn't much care for talking. However, the more she thought about how much she loathed the alpha of her pack, the more tempting it seemed to stop and talk to this stranger so that she could put off the meeting. She had planned to run with her pack that night, as it was a full moon, but was beginning to think that going it alone was better.

"U-um... hi," she mumbled as she fell into step with Mason Winters. She had never been good at starting conversations.

Glancing down at this younger girl, as he was a little taller than her, an expression of confusion and surprise flashed across Mason’s face. He certainly had not expected to be interrupted from his morning walk so soon. However, this expression soon changed into a warm smile as he thought, “she’s cute”.

As he smiled down at Alice, quickly noticing her shyness, Mason pointed this out. “Shy of new people? Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” Slowing his long strides so she could catch up, he then asked his next question: “what’s your name?”

Alice crinkled her nose. "I'm not shy... I just don't like people," she complained, then realized that that wasn't a very good way to start a conversation. "Um, I'm Alice." Searching for something else to say in order to put off the meeting, she jumped subjects. "Are you new? You don't look familiar."

Mason chuckled softly at her distaste. “It’s alright,” he said. “We’ve all had days when we’ve hated all of humanity.” “Alice… that’s a pretty name,” he thought.

Glancing around at the nearby buildings, as if taking it all in, he said “Yeah, I guess you could say I’m new. I just got here last night. Today’s my first real time seeing the town. So far, I like it. It’s nice to be away from it all, and the change is… very much needed. It’s just nice to, well, have something normal for a change.”

Pausing for a moment, he looked back at her. “But hey, now I’m just rambling on. And I doubt that you want to listen to me complain. The name’s Mason, by the way. Mason Winters."

When Mason suggested that Red Creek was normal, Alice laughed. "Normal? You're joking," she responded. "Well, I should get back to work at the café. Have fun with your... exploring or whatever, Mason."

Without waiting for a response, she turned and headed back to the café, glancing at her phone to check the time and cursing under her breath, knowing that the owner would scold her for being late.

As she walked away, Mason thought to himself, “I wonder what she meant? Why did she laugh when I said this place was normal? Am I missing something?”

Perplexed by this new acquaintance, Mason stood there for a moment, speechless. However, his stomach announced itself – and quite loudly. Looking down at his watch, he realized that he should probably get something to eat, and soon. And so he continued on his way, with a new purpose in mind: food.

she smiled. " thats a nice name Pandora Tiller"she said smiling her fangs showed a little but she hide them. she went back to reading asking if pandora wanted to read too.

"Thank you." Pandora says, "And sure, you have an extra book?"

His coffee finished, Kit packed up his bag and hiked it onto his shoulders. He saw the girl who had served him the coffee return as he headed to the door and waved before exiting the building.

Back out in the streets of Red Creek, Kit had himself a look around. It was such an interesting little town, he never knew where to start, even though he'd visited quite a few times before. He took notice of a leaf on the ground and, when the wind tossed it slightly down the east direction of the street, decided that must be the direction he was to go.

As leaves and the wind have never told a lie to Kit, soon enough he ran into another person, a seemingly human fellow who appeared to not know exactly where he was headed. He, in all his deer antlered, fox tailed, strangely dressed curiosity, waved Mason down with a friendly smile. He quickly caught up, having been heading in the opposite direction, and turned on his heel to walk next to him. "Are you new here?" he inquired.