Mein Licht

As Mizuki came outside where Harry was waiting, she stretched her arms casually despite the fact that she felt anything but casual. "So, how does it look? Fitting for death?" A sardonic smile pulled at her lips. Since she was going to be playing he undesired part of the vampire, she was wearing a dress (third from the top) and a mask to match. It was a good thing it was all red too, because at the end she was supposed to "die" a very bloody "death".
For his part, Harry managed to keep a straight face as he shrugged though she knew that he was happy for her being finally allowed to partake in this part of the festival. "Fine. Can we go now though, Miz? We're going to be late." He tugged at her elbow and with a slight roll of her eyes, she started to walk towards the villages center with her brother.
There were decorations everywhere, strung from trees and the two watch towers on either side if the road which led directly into the village and even from the four buildings which encased the center. Directly in the middle was their "town hall" and the stage was the space in the middle of everything. Though there weren't a lot of people, it was still a great event for everyone present.

@ Sweetest Insanity
Good God... Could it possibly be any colder? Kross thought as he walked, or more like drug himself, through the long, uneven, mountain terrain. His pale, almost gray tinted skin was covered with goosebumps, making them almost painful to touch because of the frozen air.
The black cargo military-esque pants and combat boots he had stolen from a base he had discovered a few months back were now worn with dirt and a few holes; the soles of the shoe had even morphed to the shape of his foot. He also wore a tight-fitting black shirt with a turtle-neck styled collar, although the shirt had short sleeves, and leather finger-less gloves on his hands. Topping it off with his shaggy, dirt matted black hair, one might think that he was a part of some sort of cult, but it was actually just his preferred color. That, and with him having a sort of nomadic life-style, he just took whatever clothes he could get his hands on.
As he continued to walk, Kross eventually came upon a tiny village, and he almost fell to his knees with thankfulness. "Ahh, this is great..." he huffed, heading to the village as fast as he could (which was really just a slow jog, since he was so low on energy).
Once he had reached the entrance, Kross instinctively grabbed for the long metal rod strapped to his back and whipped it out, scanning the area with is deep blue eyes for any sort of threat. Once he saw it was clear though, besides a few townspeople busily decorating with bright red decorations, Kross rolled over to the side into some bushes and out of sight.
From here he crawled around the perimeter of the village, being sure not to be spotted by any one.

@ Kross
Eventually they came to the village. Houses were farther into the woods, so as to be hidden from their enemies, while the village was pretty much in plain sight. A village was hard to camouflage, so they didn't exactly bother trying when they had built it. They had set up watch towers at the road though and a town hall directly across from that. Four buildings were their stores and behind the 'town hall' was their cemetery. Small- true, quaint- yes, busy- not usually, except for trading days, and deadly- absolutely.
And one would think that having lived in such village for all of their lives and knowing everyone there, she would be comfortable around all of these people who were basically like family to her, but when they got into the village, she actually hung back a ways, practically pressing herself against the side of one of the buildings. Sure, she was about to be in one of the festival's events, but despite her strong personality, she was actually pretty shy.
Glancing at her brother, she saw no such trait. He could walk into a crowd all lazy like, hands stuffed in pockets and looking for all the world like he just crawled out of bed and not blink a single time at it. Harry was oblivious to others, unless he was talking to them, and sometimes was considering stuck up because of it even though it was simply his personality. Now, he glanced back at his sister, cocking his head to the side. "Are you coming?" he asked.
She blinked for a minute, and then sighed softly. "Yeah, I just don't want to get in anyone's way...it's not even really time yet," she said- not to mention she didn't feel comfortable whatsoever in the dress she was wearing. She might be used to the chilly climate but that didn't mean she was impervious to it, and besides, she hated dresses...with a passion. Give her a pair of jeans and a t-shirt any day.
"Come on," he said, giving her one of his very Harry-like looks, and Mizuki sighed softly before stepping forward and starting with her brother through the miniscule crowd. Everyone they passed gave and received a friendly hello as they walked, until they found a place where they would be out of people's hair until everything was set up and ready to go. Consequently, it was near the watch towers she had spoken of earlier, just at the outskirts of the forest that surrounded their small settlement.

Kross shuffled through the bushes, being stuck by thorns and scratched by sticks, until he made his way up to one of the watch towers in the distance. He noticed a boy and a girl standing there, but he didn't pay much attention to them. He quickly darted through the air and climbed up the watch tower, opposite the side of the two people. He clambered up the sides, trying to make the least amount of noise he possibly could, until he fell into the platform on the top, hiding behind the waist-high walls.
From here Kross silently observed, watching the people as they readied for whatever it was that they were celebrating. It's a festival... They're bound to have free food, right? he thought, licking his lips as he scanned the area. His attention was drawn to the stage though, where he watched as people finished setting up the last few decorations. "Oh, dinner and entertainment?" he whispered, picking out the people in the crowd and trying to decide who would be participating in the show.

@ Sweetest Insanity

@ Kross
Just as Kross took no notice of Mizuki and Harry, so the twins took no notice of him, though for different reasons. It also took a few more minutes before it appeared nearly everything was set up for the event, and Mizuki was nearly bouncing on the balls of her heels in nervous anticipation by the time she went and made her way to the forefront of the crowd where the others were gathered as well, though she knew her brother would hang back and watch from a distance. That was alright as far as she was concerned though- she was simply glad he would be watching.
And then it began once they were all ready. It wasn't exactly a play per say, but it was neither a dance or really much of anything already created. It was the village's own version of a tale. It depicted how the land used to be, enslaved by the creatures called vampires and subject to their rule, and how one man stood up and decided he didn't want to be ruled anymore. This man was a natural born leader, so it said, and others followed him, and that was how their particular village came to be the first to gain their independence and how they were created. Since then, they train to kill vampires, though they trade with other villages across the mountains as well, and continue to celebrate each year of their freedom.
It wasn't very long, all in all, but by the time it was over, Mizuki felt like it had practically been a couple of hours. Her heart was bounding from that nervous anticipation she had been feeling earlier, like butterflies in her stomach, and as Harry came towards the front of the crowd to greet her, she very nearly hugged her brother just to see his reaction since now she was covered in a substance they had made to mimick blood. It was splattered over nearly every inch of her body, and though the main ingredients were basically sugar water and therefore non-toxic, she knew it would stain badly and he would probably complain to her about ruining his shirt, and then for embarassing him, despite everyone knew how close the twins were, especially since their father had died and brother disappeared, leaving them to fend for themselves. It was really a miracle that they continued to stay in the town at all and be able to care for themselves really, or so it was said. Their father, Nathan, had been the last leader of their village, and Tom...well, no one particularly cared to speak of Tom much.

@ Sweetest Insanity
(Hold on, I'm confused. The play thing is already over?)

@ Kross
(Yeah, sorry. I didn't feel like trying to type up the entire thing in detail so I just outlined what it's story was about instead...)

Kross dove from the watch tower while everyone was distracted from greeting the actors and actresses in the play. He dashed over to one of the booths and started piling bread into his lap, not even bothering to use the red jam that came with it. He was too hungry to wait any longer.
The bread was hard on the outside, almost crunchy like a rice cracker, but the inside was soft and borderline gooey... It was delicious. He continued to stuff his face, crouched behind the counter, not even caring if someone spotted him now. He got what he wanted: food. If they killed him, he would die a happy man with a happy stomach.
Peeking back over the counter, he watched the violet haired girl, who was now covered in some sort of blood. What the heck... I wish I could have watched instead of being hidden... Seemed like weird show, but that girl is pretty hot! he mused, still mindlessly picking at the bread on the table with one hand, and now using the other to dip his fingers in the jam. He didn't even bother to spread it on the roll; he just simply licked the sticky substance right off of his fingers. And it was fantastic. This place has to be filled with witches. This food is sinfully good.

Mizuki laughed softly at Harry's groaning after she had hugged him. "Oh, don't be a baby, Harry," she said, linking her arm in his and starting to drag him away from the crowd. "It's not like there's really any damage done in the long run, righ-" She paused with a blink as her eyes locked onto someone. It was a boy, sitting behind the counter of a booth and munching on food. He looked really raggedy, and she didn't recognize him. It was obvious he wasn't from the village either, or he wouldn't look the way he did. Everyone had at least something red.
She glanced to her brother. "Hey, I'll be back in a moment," she said, and expertly disappeared into the crowd. She didn't know if the black-haired boy had seen her, but if he did, he would have lost sight of her. She crept around back to where the booths were, coming behind them and sneaking behind the one she had seen him in. Eventually she saw the back of his head and smiled mischievously, working her way silently over. Eventually she came to the booth, leaning into the back of it on her elbows with a small smirk.
"You know, you should save some of the bread and jam for everyone else. You're probably not the only one hungry," she started casually, chuckling as she saw him jump. "You should also be wearing at least something red." As he turned to face her, she saw some jam on the corner of his mouth and laughed. "I think the jam covers it."

Kross watched as the girl disappeared from his sight, but shrugged nonetheless. He would be leaving here any minute now, anyways.
He then jumped at the sound of someone's voice and turned around to see the same purple haired girl, smirking at him. "Err... First come first served, I guess," he shrugged, as he quickly stuffed the last roll in his lap inside his mouth. After he swallowed it (without chewing once), Kross cocked his head at her "Why should I be wearing red? I like black," he said, crossing his blue eyes to look at the black bangs that hung in his face. "...You're bleeding, by the way," he said sarcastically, pointing at her blood covered flesh.

Mizuki shrugged softly. "I guess, since you ate it all anyway." She looked at him closer now, the pallid tone of his skin and how she could practically see his bones through his clothes, and she shook her head softly. She knew he hadn't been from the village from seeing him earlier, but he was really in worse shape than she thought.
"Oh yeah; the blood tastes good though," she shrugged. She leaned over and wiped some on him. "There you go; red. You're now an official resident of our village." She considered his first question about the red though as she bounced on the balls of her feet. "Well, it's the festival... everyone's supposed to wear red." Remembering she was wearing a mask, she took it off, and pulled her hair down from the bun it had been up in, not caring that the fake blood would get in it better this way. "So... you're really hungry aren't you?" she asked after a minute, peering at him as she pushed hair out of her face. "You look cold too."
She chewed on her lip, considering what to do, and then sighed softly at what she was about to say. "Wanna go meet up with my brother? We can show you around the festival, and there are probably some clothes that'll fit you at our house. I mean... we do have a lot of spare guy's clothes." Some times she had hated being the only girl in the house, but she found herself missing Tom and her father a lot, even if Tom was actually still alive. "Besides, I gotta change anyway so it isn't like Harry and I won't be heading back for a few minutes either. He could probably even scrounge up more food for you."

Kross didn't pat any more attention to what she was saying after she mentioned clean clothes and food. "Hell yes!" he practically screamed and shot up to his feet, ready to follow the girl where ever she was going.
He was right... she was hot. Very cute, with blue eyes that vaguely remind him of his mother's.
"I'm Kross, by the way," he said as they walked through the crowd. "A starving nomad who wanders the world by himself and sneaks into peoples' villages only to steal their food. It's one of my many redeeming qualities," he smirked, but said it with as much as a serious tone as he could muster. One of the many things Kross was always too good at for his own good: sarcasm. Which, unfortunately, made him a good liar as well.

Mizuki chuckled softly at the enthusiasm of the boy as he shot to his feet, yelling loud enough to attract some attention, and she rolled her eyes a bit at him. "Calm, Fido," she said, and started to lead the way back to where she had left Harry. He wasn't there of course, having wandered off somewhere amongst the festivities and she sighed softly.
"Oh yes, very redeeming," she nodded as if what he said made the most sense in the world. "I'm Mizuki, formerly the only girl in a house of three guys, now down to an even one on one, newly made preformer, for the festivities at least, and not impressed. You've gotta ask for food first," she told him with a teasing smile, looking around for her red-headed brother. Unfortunately with so much red, it was hard to spot him and when she did, she shook her head.
"There he is!" She walked over to Harry, smacking the back of his head lightly, to which he gave her an evil look. "I told you to stay back there! You left me alone with a strange boy!" she said, motioning to Kross, though she knew her brother would know better than to take her serious. "Actually you just told me to wait; you didn't say where," Harry corrected, giving a small blink at Kross.
"Uhh... Miz; whose this?" He asked after a moment, rubbing the back of his head. "He's our guest for the moment," she said, bouncing lightly on her heels. "While I change, your gonna feed him. His name is Kross by the way, and make sure he asks politely before you give him any food."

"Mizuki," he repeated her name, smiling at it, "Very nice. Oh and trust me... You'll be impressed eventually," he winked at her before taking a large step so he was walking in front of her now, acting like he knew where he was going.
Once they found her brother, Kross gave him a lazy salute "Nice to meet you. Now screw introductions, I'm starving my ass off over here..."
He waved Mizuki as she left, then placed his hand's on her brother's shoulders and started steering him the other way, still acting like he knew where he was going. "Lead the way, ginger,"

Harry dug his heels into the ground before pointing to where Mizuki had gone. "You're going the wrong way," he said. "We should still be following Mizuki." Shaking his head at the stranger a little, Harry stuffed his hands in his pockets and started heading the way Mizuki had disappeared to, leading the way back to their house. Since the twins generally didn't prefer crowds, they didn't spend a lot of time at the festival.
Mizuki let Kross lead Harry in the wrong direction on purpose with a shake of her head and a small shrug, heading back to the house. She had decided to let him act as cocky as he wanted -see how far it got him here- which was nowhere. When she had first spoken with him, she had figured him to be pretty nice, but after that little comment about her being impressed eventually and winking at her before starting to try and lead the way, she had basically decided then and there that maybe she should him just how things worked with her for guys who acted like that.
Mizuki didn't really have "love interests" or anything of the sort. Lucky for her, when Tom had still been around, him being the protective older brother and all, guys had generally avoided her. Since he had left though -and Harry being Harry- it seemed like all of sudden those who weren't with girls already just seemed to migrate towards her. She had done away with polite and started to show them just how things were with her, and it had just started to work.
A small trek through the forest later and she smiled as she came to the house, heading inside and moving into the hall into her room. Usually she wouldn't bother with closing the door, considering only Harry lived with her, but considering their guest, she made sure it was closed -and locked- as she changed.

Kross turned around with Harry and began following beside him, "Yeah, whatever," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets as well, half to mock him, half because he just wanted to.
When they arrived at the house Kross watched Mizuki as she headed to her room. Remember where that one is... You may need to get some stuff done there. He thought to himself, smiling foolishly at the... 'strange' thoughts running through his head.
His mind already moved away from the new clothes and food, Kross turned to Harry "So, how old is your sister?"
When he looked down at his feet and saw the dirt trail that followed him, he remember the clothes "Oh yeah, clothes first... sister later. Or we could talk while I change... Never a wrong time for lady talk, if ya know what I mean," Kross laughed, not even noticing that Harry wasn't, and probably wouldn't ever, laugh with him.

Harry said nothing as he walked towards the back of the house, going into a room that had been abandoned for a little over a year. "Pick out what you want to wear," he offered with a shrug. Tom wasn't home -he couldn't miss his clothes, and even if he did, he wasn't home to notice whether someone else took them anyway. He said nothing about Mizuki either, though he wondered why she had decided to let this guy come in their house in the first place. He had thought that she didn't really like guys... it just confused him.
He sighed at the thought, and then left Kross to change while he headed in the kitchen to fix some food. Mizuki came out of her room, having changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt instead of wearing the dress, her hair falling over her shoulders as well and the fake blood washed off. "Ooh, food," she smirked as she stole a piece of whatever Harry was making, sitting down at a stool at the counter. "You don't seem happy," she commented as well as she spun slightly on the stool.
Harry gave her this 'how-did-you-guess' look and she laughed. "Twin telepathy," she answered. "Never doubt it. You would know what I was thinking too, if you tried hard enough, and you're probably the only person who ever could." She reached for a slice of tomato, though he put the food out of her reach and she pouted. "Come on, Harry! I'm starving," she complained, leaning against the counter and pouting at her brother.

Kross opened up the wardrobe in the room and began digging through the clothes. He eventually settled on a plain white t-shirt with a black button-down to wear over it (unbutton, of course) and a pair of jeans. He folded them over his arm and walked back into the kitchen "Hey, you guys mind if I take a shower? Got all this dirt in my hair..." he said as he swiped his hand through the mud caked strands of black.
He walked up to the counter and grabbed a tomato, exactly what Mizuki was going for, and popped it into his mouth.

(Sorry... kinda lazy.)

(^-^ No problem)

As Kross took the tomato that Harry had been keeping from her, Mizuki turned to set a glare on him. "You ate my tomato," she sighed, nearly letting her head fall on the counter as well, since half of her body was already sprawled across it. She ended up just shrugging in answer to his question though. "No, go for it. Someone might have to show you where it is..."
She glanced back to Harry but he was still preparing food and making a face, she sat up in her stool and stood up. "Looks like it's gonna be me." Barefoot now since she had taken her shoes off as soon as she got inside, she padded back towards the hall with Kross behind her, feeling his eyes on her as she came to the room, motioning to it once she was there. "There ya go. Try to save some hot water for Harry."