She shoots colors all around, like a sunset going down

[knightsdaughter]

Molly Carpenter wanders through the carnival at Xanadu, more curious than concerned. She wouldn't be entirely surprised to see someone she knew, but hasn't run into them so far

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[returntous]

Mabel has bad memories involving carnivals. On the outskirts of the town her aunt lived in, there was an old, run-down amusement park. It was shut down, had been for years. Rumors went wild about why, teenagers broke in and spray painted crude messages on decaying statues of nursery rhyme figures, but even they didn't stay long.

Mabel eventually found out why.

This carnival was no better. It was full of people and laughter, color and sound. She's standing in the middle of it, forcing the crowd to part around her. She's very still, brow furrowed in concentration.

Something was screaming, and she was the only one who could hear it.

[knightsdaughter]

"Hey - hey." Molly comes up to the woman, frowning a little in worry. "Are you alright?"

[returntous]

"Huh?" It was on the tip of Mabel's tongue to dismiss Molly with something sarcastic, but she liked the color of the girl's hair. It was enough to make her reconsider.

"Yeah, just thought I heard something." She turns her attention back to the crowd, frowning. "Can't seem to figure out where it's coming from."

[knightsdaughter]

She frowns a little harder, in thought. "Can you describe it at all?" It was too bad Harry wasn't here; he was phenomenal at picking up faint sounds when he put his mind to it.

[returntous]

Again Mabel gives her a long look, considering. She didn't really like announcing to the world that she was crazy and saw ghosts; she only did that when people were paying her for it, and it still didn't get that good of a reaction.

"You know that sound kids make when they're off in some distance, playing? It sounds kinda like screaming, like somebody's hurt, but you check and they're just being kids, nothing's wrong. It sounds like that, only it keeps repeating itself, doesn't stop."

[knightsdaughter]

"You think anyone's actually in trouble, then?" It must be admitted, Molly doesn't outwardly look like she'd be much help if they were. She's tall, just under six feet, but slender, built more for speed than strength. Still, she asks it like someone used to helping when the answer is yes.

Kids in trouble is a bit of a hot-button, after all, given her numerous younger siblings.

[returntous]

She listened a moment longer, then shakes her head with a sig.

"No. Nobody else can hear it."

[knightsdaughter]

"Oh." Molly's first reaction does not seem to be that this is abnormal. "I... I guess that's good. Got to be kind of annoying for you though."

[returntous]

"Kinda used to it." Mabel answers this question in a distracted way, her eyes still following the crowd. Finally she seems to spot something, and starts off in the direction of the Ferris Wheel.

"But I'm also betting I'm the only one listening," she adds.

[knightsdaughter]

"Could be," Molly says, following Mabel. "People can overlook a lot, sometimes." A fact she's certainly used to her advantage before, it must be said.

[returntous]

"Do they ever," she agrees, moving at a slow pace in order to be sure she was following the right voice. "You don't have to come along if you don't want to, it may be nothing."

And what she means by that is I might be the only person who can see it.

[knightsdaughter]

"I don't mind. I'm... kind of used to that. Unless I'm bugging you." She's interested, now, in a way she hasn't been here yet. Truth be told, she's kind of gotten used to things being weirder than otherwise.

[returntous]

"Nah." She adds something to that that sounds like not yet, but this is fortunately mumbled.

"So whatcha doing out here?"

[knightsdaughter]

"Not sure, actually. My teacher would say I probably took a left turn at Albuquerque." Then again, her teacher is a smartass. "I figure I'll either run into someone I know or a way out eventually."

[returntous]

"I can open the door if you find it." What...ever this means, Mabel makes no effort to make clear.

She swerves around a clown and ducks under someone walking on stilts. Stupid carvinals, always full of distractions.

[knightsdaughter]

"Cryptic predictions. Bob'd have a field day." Actually, Bob would probably have more of a field day with the attractive woman with abilities relating to ghosts, but this is a minor detail.

"But I'll be sure to let you know." She pauses, then says, "I'm Molly, by the way."