Foundations of the Perfect Sandcastle

[Seira]

Seira was more than prepared! She had her little bag ready, and she just had to find the right little spot in the middle of town where the most people could see her. Not too difficult. The sandy coloured fox druid was always good at running through the crowds, and that day was no exception under the sun. Seira bobbed and weaved, running along the stalls to find the middle of the town, the crossroads with the perfect little monument to build her first major sandcastle. And she found it.

From there she had to go quickly. Art could not be rushed, but she was a damn wizard with her sand. Metaphorical for the most part, but she was still quite adept with sand that poured from her bag and even in her fur. It swirled in place at first as she practically danced with it in the air. She just enjoyed the feel of the sand whirling around her running in the shape of a ribbon before she threw her hands forwards, the sand binding together and forming a rather basic, if with some detail, sand castle. "Ta da!" she shouted, wanting to get as much attention to her handywork as possible, before sticking a little blue and white paper flag in the top.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    A few passerby's stopped to give Sierra little round of applause for her craft, it was always nice to see little street performances or public art. At least for most people. A grumpy salesman behind his stand grumbled about the girl dragging away his customers, but was largely ignored. Children ran towards the castle, ogling it with bright eyes, though the parents thankfully kept them from getting any closer. Didn't want to ruin all of Siera's hard work! Upset about being ignored, the grumpy salesman stood up, ready to complain, only to be cut off by a loud and sudden shriek. The exclamation was soon joined by a few other surprised shouts and squeals as some sort of chaos bee lined down the road.

    "OUTTA THE WAY!!!!" Came a loud, panicked roar. A blue streak whipped past, gunning straight down the road... straight towards Siera who seemed to be right smack dab in the middle of the streak's path. Whatever the streak was, it thankfully had enough sense and control to turn right before barreling the poor druid and her masterpiece over. Instead, it thankfully found a nice comfy cushion crashing through the side of the grumpy man's stand. Onlookers stared baffled as a loud angry scream erupted, followed by what can only be described as the sound of a bull in a china shop as though reaping some sort of diving karma.

    After the dust settled and the stand finished collapsing in on itself, a young man wearing the Vyridel Academy uniform stumbled out of the wreckage coughing and sputtering. "Oh man, oh man I'm gonna be so late." The boy stammered, hair a wreck and uniform covered in dust. The young man paused to dust himself off and inspect for damages, before realizing all eyes were upon him.

    "Eheh... overslept..." Cheeks red with embarrassment, the boy stammered out rushed apologies. "A-at least no one got hurt, e-eh?"

    Well, no one but his pride. 

    Cyrus stepped back awkwardly, expecting to be berated by the onlookers. Though, really it was just a mixture of confusion and mild amusement. A few made quips about "the interesting mages the Academy were accepting nowadays" while most were content with going about their days as normal. The only one truly upset was that one merchant, who clambered out of the rubble of his stand huffing and wheezing. But no one seemed to pay much attention to him. 
    
    Not even Cyrus, who was now inspecting a mighty fine sandcastle.

    "Woaaah. That's pretty neat, How'd you make this all the way in the city? Didja bring the materials from the beach or something?" The boy crouched down, studying it with childlike wonder. The merchant yapped in the background like a tiny dog, and just like a tiny dog, he wound up largely ignored, save for a few other merchants who saw their chance to nudge him away. The young student stuck his hand out, offering a handshake to the druid. "I'm Cyrus, by the way." 


    

    

[Seira]

Seira's grin grew wider and wider as she was given the applause she felt she truly deserved. The crowd could have been bigger sure, but this was her grand entrance. No need to send the entire congregation to greet her. She was hoping down from her sculpture, using the buttresses as stepping stones to make her way down. Despite how the slightest breeze scattered some flecks of sand, her feet seemed to hardly touch any.

She sat above the 'gate', watching the commotion unfolding in the square. But all the attention was away from her then, the applause stopped, and she puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. She couldn't stop that though, and hoped down the last to land on her bare feet on the ground.

She remained stood there as the crowd was parting, giving a smile, a wave, and a tiny paper flag to a little girl who couldn't keep her eyes off the druid. "The beach?" She repeated back looking over her shoulder first, before standing full, hands on her hips and grinning. "Nope. Made it all myself," she slapped her hand rather hard in to grabbing his, though only seeming in the friendly excitable way, whilst she seemed to accidentally cover his wrist in dry sand. "Woop, sorry. Still got a little in the reserves," she shook off her hands, as sand seemed to scatter fun her very body itself. "I'm Seira though. Finest sand castle builder in this dimension and any other,"

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Cyrus laughed, ogling the sandy structure. He did shake the sand off his hand a bit, but for the most part the young man didn't seem to mind much. Hell, even if he still had sand on him, he could probably just excuse his tardiness as being caught in some sand mages freak out. Show the sand as proof. Make the argument that there ain't no sand naturally in the city. You know. Game the system a bit. 

    "That's awesome!" Cyrus exclaimed, impressed that she could do that all herself. His glow briefly brightened, matching his excited mood. The young student laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm glad I didn't go barreling through that, for your sake and mine. But there's definitely no disputing you've made the best literal sand castle I've ever seen. Uh... one thing though..."

    Cyrus blinked, looking around at a few impatient merchants and guards. "How're you planning to clean it all up?" 

    Most of the pedestrians really didn't seem to mind the intrusion, save for a few busy-bodies. But the merchants in the bazaar definitely were annoyed by it's sudden appearance, while the guards... the guards really just didn't want to have a big ol' fuckin' mess to clean up. It seemed like all eyes were on Sierra again. Though, this time not exactly in a good way. But, don't worry little sand champ, you're not alone here! Cyrus is getting his fair share of glares too! Nearly running over some people and battering into a stall doesn't exactly look all that good. 

    "You wouldn't happen to be a smooth talker, would ya?" Cyrus whispered, leaning in a bit so she could hear him. Though, the lean might have been a bit... too obvious. On accident of course. No one really intends to make it fully obvious unless they're being sarcastic. Which Cyrus wasn't! But he did have a point, it might take a bit of talking to calm down the growing irritation around them. 

    Though as long as Sierra had a permit or whatever to build her sand-masterpiece here, it was all on the up and up! She just had to tell them that and it would be all fine and dandy. The girl did have a permit, right? 

    Right?

    Well, it might be a stroke of luck that it was Cyrus that came across the young druid here. The guy was definitely a goofball, but worse comes to worse, he was a damn good getaway vehicle.