CM Round 1 - Page 7

The two travelled through the crowd of partygoers and dancers. They moved just far enough apart to look like they weren't together, occasionally splitting up and going different directions. They moved through several rooms, all of them a different color, royal purple, deep green, bright orange, creamy off-white. Right now, they were in a violet room. Totally different from the deep purples they encountered earlier on. Everything was a brighter, shimmering hue of violets or lilacs.

Saiph scowled, he couldn't see anything in this crowd, and the tallest he reached on anybody was at about their hips. Nobody was paying much attention to him as he squeezed and pushed his way, scanning faces for anything familiar. A pair of dancers in very elaborate masks bumped into him, making his stumble over his feet. He felt the heat rise to his face and whirled around, about to bark out some insult at the pair, when he felt a hand close tightly around his shoulder.

He whirled around to see Helena, glaring at him through her dark eyes.

"Don't call attention to yourself." She said, voice low and cool and collected. Saiph bit his lip, embarrassed and angry. He whirled around and continued his search through the crowd. Helena snorted angrily and turned the other way, hiding her face with her handled mask.

Her eyes darted from face to face, searching for anything she recognized from the crowd back at Medium. A sudden glittering flash caught her attention and she quickly turned her head to the source. The light from a purple lamp was catching on the lavender beads on a tablecloth in the corner, making them glitter sharply. She frowned, on the table top, the only item not a shade of violet, was a neat envelope that bared her name in scrolling script.

To: Miss Helena Longley

Helena turned her head slightly, seeking out Saiph's bright head. He was facing away from her, standing on his tip toes and craning his neck to look at a tall woman with short blonde hair. Quick as a flash, her hand darted out and tucked the letter into her sash.

"Helena! Helena!"

The spy turned, had she been caught? Saiph was running towards her, eyes bright and excited.

"I found our opponent!"

Helena lowered to mask to look at him in surprise, "Are you sure Saiph? How do you-"

"That jerk yelled at me back at Medium! When you went to get the ticket." He said. "Plus, It's some anthro dog! A sort of humanized animal." he said, grinning at her. "I'm pretty sure he's the opponent. You said yourself, everyone from this world is human!"

He rubbed his hands together in a sinister way, "Oh, that jerk is going to get it! We're going to kick his furry butt!"

The older woman stayed skeptical, "Why isn't everyone freaking out then? It's not every day they'd get a walking dog sauntering in their ball." She looked up to try and spot him. A lot of people were crowded in front of her blocking her view.

"I overheard them talking. They think it's some really elaborate mask." He said, with a snicker. He pointed into the crowd. "He's right in there."

The crowd slowly dispersed, revealing just what Saiph had described. A walking dog. He had gray fur and what looked like an unnatural blue fringe around his eyes, ears and chin. He was wearing a very showy outfit. Buckled shoes, light pink ruffled blouse and a bright blue cap on his head.

Helena grinned, "Watch and learn boy." She said, striding forward and picking up two discarded glasses of wine on a nearby table.

"Watch and learn."