The internet is a storm of URLs, wi-fi and strings of dangerous code, whirling and thundering. Out in the wilderness you can only survive so long unaided, but in here, behind the mellow yellow windows, a safe and comforting place awaits. This place is a respite from the internet; the fire crackles invitingly and alluring rainbow-coloured drinks are poured into glasses. Exciting chatter fills the rooms from tables bustling with friends, eating from trays of warm, rustic carum bread and hearty stews. Gentle music comes from the band in the background.
[image description: a busy tavern lit by orange light]
Come in, chat away, have a great time! The old location may have been overrun by the Codekind, but this new building has three-meter thick walls, three floors and turret bedrooms to rest in at the top! We’ve returned, free from the battles of the secret pages! A safe micro-community of equality and no judgement. Hang up your HTML-reflective suit at the door and settle in with a drink and a meal.
Notice Board: Free candy in the bowl on the counter! What types of candy are there? Yes.
“Hello everybody!” Wren came down the stairs. She picked up a brownie that she saw and crumbled it up into small prices. Then,she threw them all at Iris. As Iris started to turn and look who threw the brownie pieces at her,Wren jumped off the stairs into the shadows next to the table so she wasn’t seen. Wren then picked up some more crumbled brownies and threw it at Lion and Snowy. Once again,she crept into hiding. Wren continued this until she reached the counter. She grabbed some mops and put on the song that Robin had put on. She stood up and threw everyone who exploded brownies a mop. “Now clean up!”
I am a ninja😎
“I dont need a mop, I can use my face instead and that way it will be way more efficient and waaaaayyyy more delicious too, at least for me” Snowy said throwing her mop elsewhere
“I’m not gonna stick around to see that,” Wren says as she catches the mop in midjump. She threw the mop back at Snowy.
Wren grabbed some tape and wrapped Snowy’s hand to the mop😛. Then,she turned to the mod behind the bar and said”can I have something warm please?”
I wonder where they are . . .
Lion looked up, and then threw some brownie remains back at Wren, “Take that.” She said, grinning.
Robin collected all the brownie remains in a bucket and threw it at Wren. She stuck her tongue out playfully. Robin untied Snowy’s hand from her mop. “Mop fight!” she yelled and began to fight the others with mops.
Gotta keep it real right?? XD
Wren turned around. She picked up some brownie peices and put them in the trash. She snatched Robin’s mop out of her hand. She knocked out Lion’s mop. “No more fighting,”she said while taking someone else’s mop. “Or fight me,”Wren growled playfully as she sweeped some brownie peices around her. The brownies shot off in different directions,hitting the others.
Robin did a pitiful karate chop in Wren’s direction. She picked up a handful of brownie crumbs and threw them at Wren.
Wren leapt onto a table with two mops. She started to spin them and jumped towards Robin. “You really want to do this?” Wren threw up one of the mops and hit it with the other mop. The mop spun towards Robin.
“Woh, woh, woah what’s happening here? I spend a few minutes (okay maybe a few months) out of the Hazelpage and this is what happens?!” Brightwing exclaimed. She paused and then decided to mention-
“Jokes people, I’m actually totally not in charge here, and mop fights are the best! Go ahead peeps!”
“we wanted to explode some brownies by carbonating it, it was very entertaining!” Snowy said while eating some brownie and defending her chair with her mop
Brightwing shrugged.
“Sounds cool to me! Can I have some unexploded brownie? I like them better, I think.”
“yeah sure” Snowy said while grabbing a brownie from the counter and giving it to Brightwing
Bluefire slipped unnoticed through the door of the Hazelpage Tavern. With a black cloak and hood obscuring her features, she could be anyone, but mostly, she’d be unnoticed. The black tip of her blue-grey tail swished against the floor as she walked up to the bar, tossing her hood back to reveal short-cut blonde hair, light skin, and gleaming eyes halfway between silver and blue. “Excuse me,” she said, catching the bartender’s attention. “I’d like some breeze-cold tea please, and a square of fizzleberry-chocolate fudge.” When she’d received her food, she slipped through the crowd to the back, where she sat at a corner table by herself. She watched as what seemed to be a mop-fight broke out on one side of the tavern, and quietly mumbled a shielding code to avoid being showered with brownie crumbs. Bluefire didn’t like using code for her personal gain, but sometimes it couldn’t be avoided. Like the unnoticable code she’d tacked to her cloak. Pulling the hood back over her head, she stuck the straw of her breeze-cold tea into her mouth as she observed the rest of the tavern.
Iris had been quietly eating a piece of blown-up brownie when her sharp eyes caught a shift. A black clothed person was quietly making her way behind the crowd, seeming to be unnoticed by anyone, except her.
Odd.
Iris leapt off the counter that she’d been sitting on, landing softly and easily. The others, absorbed in their broom fight, didn’t notice her. Iris quietly walked over to the back, her purple sneakers padding noiselessly. No one bothered to look her way.
She leaned on the newcomers table, and peered into the hood. Something was.. off.
Iris concentrated, and something seemed to shift into place. A girl’s face peered back at her, so familiar… then it clicked. Iris gasped.
“You’re that girl!” she whispered urgently. “The one that brought the weirdo a couple months ago and all those slithering numbers and I…” Iris broke off. She had long since resolved not to use her magic, but to be normal girl. The memory went against all that.
But then Iris realized that she had just used unconscious magic to see the girl, which explained the slight pounding in her head.
Iris slid into the seat across from the girl, her violet eyes staring intently into her face, trying to figure out the scattered puzzle pieces of this girl. The first step, would to establish that she wasn’t just going to be that weirdo sitting uninvited at a table and staring at the other occupant.
“I’m going to officially introduce myself. I’m Iris, and…” I paused, how did she continue? What would she say to this mysterious girl who had walked a couple months ago, bringing Codekind into the Hazelpage! A place of peace!
“I want.. no.. need to know a couple things.”
Bluefire glanced sideways at the girl, Iris. “Look, whatever happened with the Codekind, no one remembers it but us. I’ve asked around. It’s like they put some sort of code over the scene.” She paused to make sure Iris was understanding. “I don’t know how they did it, and until I find out, we both need to lay low. Especially since no one else remembers the weird code you used that day.” At the girl’s confused look, she clarified. “Magic. I just call it code. Same thing the Codekind use.”
Wren made a shield out of four mops. She tied it together with some string that was in the pocket of her jet-black cloak. Wren started spinning it. “Clean up already. This place is a mess. Its hard to find a way through all this without stepping on food.” Wren dropped her wheel and went over to the bar. “May I have some breeze-cold tea,please? And some regular brownies.”
Emberdawn quickly made a cup. “Here you go!” She said, putting the drink down in front of Wren.
Wren grinned. “Thanks.” Then,she carried her snack over to an empty table. She sweeped off some brownie peices on the table and a chair and sat down. She chewed off a brownie. When she had finished eating,Wren grabbed a mop and started sweeping brownies into a pile near the trash.
Lion grinned a rebellious grin, if that was even possible, “Can I have a breeze-warm fire tea?”
Snowdapple walked into the tavern, her blue eyes bright, she looked around, she hadn’t been here in a while.
“Great to be here!” She breathed, she went up to bar and sat down comfortably on one of the chairs and asked, “Excuse Me, but do you still have some hot cocoa? With extra marshmallows? If you still do I would like some. Along with a brownie.” she added looking around the Tavern. “Man it is great to be back here..” she murmured to herself.
“Yup! I’ll get you one in a sec,” Emberdawn answered before starting to make the order. Minutes later, a cup was sitting in front of Snowdapple. “Enjoy!”
“Thanks!” Snowdapple said taking a sip, she licked her lips and smiled as she spotted Robin and Wren, she waved to them and continued to look around feeling warm and tingly. She looked around wanting someone to talk to.
After Iris left, Bluefire finished her food quickly. Then she went up to the bar to ask for a room. While she was waiting for the bartender to see her (she was serving someone else at the moment), Bluefire noticed a girl that she recognised, Snowdapple. Maybe… I shouldn’t try to isolate myself. I mean, the Hazelpage Tavern is supposed to be a safe place… she thought. It’s actually a lot like Cliffside Tavern, she mused, remembering a similar tavern for outlaws and mercenaries that also rested in a Codeworld. Making her descision, she straightened up and walked over to Snowdapple. “Hi, I’m Bluefire,” she introduced.
Iceflower sat behind the bar, chin resting on a pale hand. With the other, she absentmindedly wiped down a glass.
Sundance strolled into the Hazelpage. She had a black, billowing cape strapped to her back and a utility belt around her waist — the likes of which contained a jewel-encrusted dagger (in case of emergencies) and a compartment for snacks (in case she got hungry.) “Ah, Icy! There you are,” she said, suddenly realizing that she didn’t know whether they were humans or cats here. “I’d like to challenge you to a drinking contest.” Sundance raised an eyebrow. “You in, mi pollo de primavera?”
Iceflower also raised an eyebrow. “Si, mi amiga soleado.” She said, privately wondering why the sudden change in language. She made her way into the kitchen and returned a moment later, a gallon of chocolate milk and two glasses in hand. Pulling out a pair of sunglasses, she slowly slid them up her nose, squinting in a very menacing way all the while.
But the fact that she was barely five feet tall might have taken away from the intimidating effect.
“Great!” Sundance eyed the chairs at the bar, silently disapproving of them because they didn’t swivel. Well, I won’t be rating this place five stars now!
“Chocolate milk, nice choice.” She poured herself a glass of the heavenly liquid and settled down on a shoddy stool across from Iceflower. “Let’s see to it then! What are the stakes?” Sundance cracked her knuckles, then crossed her arms in a super intimating way. She secretly cursed herself for not bringing sunglasses too. “If you win, I’ll give you my dog, Rascal, the cape I’m currently wearing, and a treasure map I stole from the Queen of England a good century ago. Now what if I win, what do I get?”
Iceflower dusted off her jacket and took a seat. “If you win, I’ll give you Costco Bear and access to all of my books. Or Scarlett on the weekends, if you prefer. I’m legally obligated to make you aware that she’s a rebel by heart. She’s done hard time, Sunny. Cold, hard time.”
“Not good enough!” Sundance pounded her fist on the table so hard that if a piece of jello was sitting there it would have jiggled. “I want Costco Bear, Scarlett on the weekends, and your cow onesie. Deal
or no deal?”“Also, the fact that Scarlett has a criminal history just makes me want her more. With her powers of persuasion, she can assist me in kidnapping a certain rubber ducky in Ontario . . .” 😉
“Deal.” Iceflower responded. Filling up the glasses, she slowly slid one over the counter, one eyebrow raised.
“Wait, not Mr. Quackers!” Emberdawn called from further down the bar. “He’s a long way from home! He’s got little ducklings to think about! I mean, he is full of hot air, but that’s no reason for kidnapping~”
Robin finished sweeping up the brownie crumbs and threw them in the trash. “Finally!”, she muttered to herself. She walked over to the bar, where a drinking contest was happening. She didn’t want to interrupt, so she used her mind-blowing telekinesis to get a bottle of chocolate milk. She slipped to the back of the HazelPage, hoping nobody would notice. SHe only used her telekinesis in dire need… although getting chocolate milk was a dire need. Also using her telekinesis was cool. Plus she had a sugar craze.
Bluefire watched in intrest as Iceflower and Sundance bickered over the prizes of their gamble as she sipped her double fudge minty chocolate milkshake. She’d already stirred in all of the whipped cream. Her plate, which had previously held an extra-large caramel-stuffed fluff pastry, was now empty. She looked around for another pastry, spying some behind the counter. Using code, she teleported the fluff pastries onto her plate and dug in, drizzling them with her milkshake to add deliciousness.
“You still have to pay for that!” Emberdawn called from her place behind the bar.
Bluefire glared at Embertsar, slapping a couple of code-coins on the table before digging into the caramel fluffs.