"Usually she returns to the village in the evening, an hour or two before sunset." He answers.

The girl seem to think a bit before replying, "Oh, when does she come back?"

"Usually she returns to the village in the evening, an hour or two before sunset." The Aeridini answers.

"Um...excuse me?" I ask tentatively, trying not to seem like I was spying on them. "Hi. I'm new here...who are you?"

I turn towards the larger Aeridini, listening to their conversation.

(That does sound like it would be fun, actually, however I don't think I will be doing that anytime soon. Instead I plan on making some comics with an Estelle as the main character, and I only used them here because I've been obsessed with them since I thought them up. Besides, this just fit all too perfectly for me to pass it up!)

"And what time is it now?" I ask.

The three Puffadores spin to face you, and Blizzard seems to be bearing an incredibly shameful look.

"Oh, hello there." The blue, masked female says. "If you are refereing to the note on our sign outside, then as a matter of fact, I think you can." She remarks, noticing your syslstie team and nodding. "That is what you are referring to, right?" You nod, and she smiles with an obviously relieved expression.

"Perfect! Allow me to introduce us. My name is Icefire, and this is Archie." She says, gesturing to the pink Puffadore with her tail. "And this... is Blizzard." She finishes, narrowing her eyes at the last of the three. Blizzard appears to suddenly be taking a great deal of interest in an empty corner of the room, and pretends not to hear the scorn in his companion's voice.

"Another Puff who works here... Well, maybe I should just say lives here. Either way, her name is Nymph, and she went missing almost a week ago. It's not unusual for her to exploring, and even more common for her to play pranks on us. But this time was... different." Icefire pauses as she tries to think of the right way to say it.

"She has never been gone for more than three days before, so at first we were hardly concerned. But she didn't come back the next day, nor the next, nor the next, and there was no sign of what happened to her either. Then, late last night, one of the villagers found a letter. It was addressed to our beauty shop, so they delivered it to us. It was obviously a ransom, although what they mean by it I'm not so sure..." She trails off, appearing to get lost in thought.

Before Dusty can reply, another visitor who has moved to study the map beside you speaks up.


"Um...excuse me?" She asks tentatively. "Hi. I'm new here...who are you?"

As you turn from your discussion, you notice someone else is also apparently paying attention to you.

"Usually she returns to the village in the evening, an hour or two before sunset." The Aeridini answers, and the girls quickly asks another question.

"And what time is it now?"

It appears the second visitor has also taken interest in the two, because before the Aeridini can answer she speaks up, addressing the girl.

"Um...excuse me?" She asks tentatively. "Hi. I'm new here...who are you?"