The backstory to this insanity can be found here. The story picks up with Alain's hunt for the first of the six missing members of the Pumpkin Brigade...

"Baa..."

Target acquired. Alain was in the marketplace, rucksack over one shoulder, in an alleyway behind a small building smothered by a variety of stalls. Only a few vendors rifled through their things, organized here, smiled there... and fortunately for the young mercenary, there were few customers about. After all, he needed all the space he could get when there was a floating pumpkin to catch.

For once, he's very lightly armed, if at all, on this mission. Combat knife and small pistol concealed somewhere on his person. He is crouched low as he creeps along the side of the building, behind the stalls. An older vendor starts when he sees him, but Alain lifts a finger to shush him.

"Baaaaaa..."

He's getting closer... he creeps around another one of the stalls, trying not to jangle the odd baubles and jewelry hanging from hooks angled every which way, either to maximize use of space, or as a result of very shoddy construction... He ducks under a necklace of shells, races around another, and, "Aha!"

And he's standing there looking at a sheep, tied to one of the legs of the stall. "Meh-eh-eh-eh..." Alain frowns... and then the attack comes.

"Baa!"

As fate would have it, The Witch was indeed at the Red Dragon. She rarely went, but her business was doing a lot worse than expected, she needed to advertise, get samples of her products out there, show people exactly what she could do!

And fate put her future husband there too...

Not only was he there but he had captured her precious Chico and returned it! Such diligence and dedication would be neccessary in her future husband...Alain. Such a wonderful name...Alain. His accent was beautiful...faint, but it made The Witch's heart pitter patter. Oh it wouldn't be long until she had her husband, not at all!

She only need get rid of The Obstacle somehow...

The one that stole her future husband right in front of her nose, grabbing him in such a way, hmph! It was insulting to be sidestepped and ignored like that. Especially if you're as cute as The Witch, who could resist that shiny crimson hair, those big violet eyes, and those adorable dimples of hers?

She did some business at the bar..well she tried. Including giving a makeover to a girl that really needed it, but no, The Witch was once again, not appreciated. She'd not be sleighted again!

She marched out of that inn, found Peggy, and mounted her to ride to her atelier. Things were going to change, and she needed to prepare since Alain would be coming over when he got the rest of her Pumpkin Brigade...she'd be ready for him. That's for sure.

The Witch always gets what she wants.

A bit of manuevering was taken, and then some. The pumpkin went rolling down the bar, and Alain went diving after it... only to get a faceful of pumpkin seeds. His sister stabbed it, Glanhelmion tried to shoot it, and finally it flew out front to duke it out with the young mercenary. It had a mean right hook... but finally Alain got the rucksack over the rebellious pumpkin. Whose name, the irony of which he could not appreciate, was Che.

Elly stopped by shortly after he wished she would and picked up little Che. Supposedly, Alain would have to stop by the Atelier to pick up his reward... so he did just that.

The next day, in his long dust jacket, boots, jean-cut khakis, dark red t-shirt, and weapons holsters (he'd recently learned he was being watched, and yes, it was as subtle as ever), he made his way up to the Atelier at the edge of the woods. The building that looked like a pumpkin.

...Kooky is one viable way to describe Elly the Witch.

A din of noise erupts from the Atelier for several seconds as Elly prepares... and then falls silent. He tilts his head curiously, one eyebrow piercing clinking quietly against the other. Either she's setting a trap or cleaning up. Either way, witchy charms or Pinesol, he intends to be ready for it. He subtly shifts one of his hip holsters, draws up to the door, and knocks... and promptly ruffles up his hair to make sure it looks nice and mussed. Nothing wrong with convincing his employer that he's very good-looking and deserves every silver of whatever amount she might decide to give him. Might even raise that amount.

He smiles automatically, and the smile falters when she opens the door. Wow... she really got dressed up for this, and fixed her hair up, too. It looks... well... damned cute. He peers past her a little, the smile slowly returning. Place looks neat, too. ...Oh... so that's what all that noise was...

"How's it going, Elly." He smiles down at her as he walks past her into her house, taking another curious look around. He smells food... and immediately, his stomach talks, and loudly, too. His face colors a little. Big as he may be, he's only twenty, and still has a boy's appetite.

Yeah... she was just sitting down... with two chairs set out... and oodles of food... Wait. What color are those apples? He blinks at them as he takes a seat with a brief smile at her, his tall frame a little crowded in the chair. The deep blue eyes settle on Elly again, and he realizes she might be more than foot shorter than him. He hadn't noticed it when he first walked in, but she doesn't have her heels on. Huh.

Kooky, but cute, in a certain sense. However... the mercenary is here on business.

"I'd like that, thanks. I'm famished."

"Oh, wow... this looks great, thanks..." There's the slightest of falters in his smile as he sees the pumpkin pie is green... but it still smells good. The unblinking violet eyes make him a little bashful... but he needs to be in a business mood. Formalities first, though. After slicing the pie and sliding a big piece onto his plate, he holds the knife out to the pie, offering with eyebrows raised, and eyebrow rings rattling a little: "You want any?"

Words between swallows of pumpkin pie: "This is very nice of you... but I'm afraid... I can't stay long... I've got to meet someone in a little bit." The 'future husband' has a ravenous appetite. He takes a look around, wondering what all this witch may have had in mind... and blue eyes squint at the pumpkin on the counter. He's been attacked by these little guys on more than one occasion. He cuts the remaining crust in half and eats one piece, then the other, his stare never leaving the enchanted vegetable.

So what does Alain do? He reacts. His first instinct is to gun the pumpkin down... but maybe that's a little, you know, extreme. So he grabs his now empty plate, strikes the edge of it on the blade of the knife, sends it flipping out of the way, either clattering off of or sticking into the far wall, and the plate is swung out, palmed at the base, to stop Icky, whether his course is towards the knife or towards the mercenary. Elly's just going to love this...

Alain hears Elly and drops the plate just short of Icky, managing to catch it before it can hit the table and setting it down with an awkward clatter. He looks at the knife... looks at Elly... coughs, and walks over to the wall. "It's no problem... no one got..." He tugs the knife out with a grunt, wrinkles his nose at the spot it hit, then sets the implement down at the counter... with another glance at the pumpkin. A lick and tongue ring click at the back of his teeth. "...hurt." He hasn't seen the bag of money yet. Just wait until he does...

He just stares at the silver. He's seen bags of money, and he's pretty sure that's somewhere in the neighborhood of five hundred. One hand rubs at the back of his head, ruffling his hair when she mentions the bonus, and he starts, "Well I um," but shuts up when ten gold coins clatter to the counter.

Silence.

Then the young mercenary fixes the violet eyes with the most delighted, thrilled, excited grin. Wait until Shannon sees this pile of cash. Tips from waiting tables? Still can't quite compete with a mercenary's extravagant pay. He stacks the gold coins and drops them in the silver bag. Snatches it up, and it brushes Elly's shoulder as he presses both hands to the side of her face and presses a kiss right to her lips. Not a big kiss, but not a peck... but certainly enough to make the poor little witch blush. He lets go with a smile. "That's more than enough. Thank you. This'll pay off rent for a long time to come."

He pats her hand with another smile at her, and walks for the door. "Hope we can do more business in the future, Elly. I'll see you around." Unsure if she'll be able to recover in time to respond to him before he walks out the door.