Pied Piper|Aegestrom | Maelstrom

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With a hop and a skip, up went the performer onto a box. A large wooden box, to be precise. With a twirl and bow, and an elaborate wave, out came a flute. A smile, oh so sweet, oh so innocent and then to the lips, the flute found a home.

Out came a melody, so enticing, so enchanting. A song of cheerfulness, of hope, of dancing waters, of breezes so sweet, flowed and twisted through the air, tickling the ears of all that could hear.

Lowering the flute the performer gave another smile, with a twinkle in the eyes and a bend of the finger, encouraging the children to come ever nearer. Once again, those beautiful notes rang across the streets, beckoning, beckoning for dancers and singers and any with joy in their hearts.

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Aideen smiles and claps to the performer's tune, listening with a delighted, wide-eyed expression. Caught up in the music, she sets down her basket and begins to dance, flying up a little into the air to twist and dance on the currents of the ever present wind.

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The performer, noting the young red-heads dancing, smiled and nodded, encouragingly, and continued to play those delicous tunes.

Pausing ever so slightly, the performer fished a sweet, bright red and round, from a side pocket and offered it to one of the children. Flashing another smile, and a wink, to the dancing girl, the performer made a quick jump, landing with a quiet thump and whirled about to dance on down the street, the music trailing behind.

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Aideen giggles, pausing in her dance to run after the piper. "Wait," she calls out, laughing. "Don't go!" Touching her Wind sign for a bit of extra speed, Aideen tries to catch up to the piper.

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Hoping from one side of the street to the other over and over again, the performer found yet another spot. With a trill of the flute and a leap onto a merchants table, the piper sunk into the cloak, almost as if disappearing.

Then with a pop and a swirl of cloth, and a shower of candies, the performer was up once more and a jolly song erupted from the flute.

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Aideen stops and stares for a moment, before giggling, grabbing up a handful of candies then running up to the piper. "Please sir, how did you do that?" she asks, her eyes bright with curiousity and excitement.

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With a dip of the hand and a twirl of the other, out popped a bloom, perfect for the summer. "A performer never reveals all of their tricks," said a voice, a soft, but cast low, tenor.

Standing upright, the performer tossed the flower to the young lady.

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Aideen giggled, charmed by the performer, catching the flower and placing it above her ear. "Talented, charming and mysterious," she giggles. "You must be the star of a lot of young girl's dreams, good sir."

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"Dreams?" came the voice and a quick flashing smile. "But," with yet another twirl, scooping the young girl into the cloak, "Isn't this all but a dream?" whispers the voice in her ear.

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Aideen yelps in surprise as she's covered by the cloak, before disolving into giggles. "Yes, yes it is," she agrees. "What is life but a never endding dream of the Forces?"

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"Mayhaps, but do the Forces dream of us or do we dream of the Forces?" came the softly whispered reply.

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Aideen giggles and replies, "You, sir, are very fond of riddles with no anwsers." Dancing away from him and adds, "The true question is, who dreams of the dreamers?"

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"Alas, but we shall never know until the day that we awaken," and with that the wind picked up and swirled a thick powder up to hide the performer and the other people. Whence the powder came, no one knew nor could anyone fathom a guess.

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Aideen gasps as the powder clears from the air and reveals that the strange performer has vanished. "Hey?!" Aideen yelps, looking around in amazement. "Where did you go?" she calls.

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Despite Aideen's calls, the tricky performer did not reappear. Instead, hidden in the deeper shadows of the buildings, the performer made quick work escaping un-noticed away from the curious crowd.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed the cloak and tugged hard, pulling the performer off balance and to the side.

A man with a deep gravely voice spoke, entering what little light was to be had showed that he looked grave too, "I can't believe you would do that without getting paid for it."

A snort and the cloak was shed, revealing a slim, pale female figure with a pair of dark brooding eyes, "I do this for the kids. Anything else and I expect payment. Children are..." a very small smile touched her lips, but her eyes grew cold, "special."