After everyone finally finished with their introductions, the group headed off towards the town.  The walk was thankfully quiet, broken only by the occasional attempt at small talk.  None of them tried to speak with her, for which she was glad.  If they had the energy to speak, they should be walking faster.  From afar, they could see the movement of human bodies, a promising sign of information.  Why had the brat said there were no people there?  It was only as they got closer when she realized—why couldn’t she hear anything?  A gathering of that many people should have generated noise: if not chatter, then at least the sound of all those people moving about.  And yet, nothing.<br/><br/>They stopped at the edge of the village.  A pair of women was exiting a house, lips moving animatedly as if in conversation.  However, despite the group’s unusual appearances, the two were oblivious and continued crossing the street as if the strangers didn’t exist.  The two townspeople vanished into another building.  A sudden “THUNK” sound drew her attention to the house the two women had left from: a stick clattered on the ground.<br/><br/>“I hate this place.”  The brat muttered, turning to face them with a despondent look.  The blue-haired woman walked away from her companions, coming to a stop at the house.  Forming a fist with one hand, she knocked against the window, hearing softer<span style="font-style: italic">thunk</span>sounds.  She tapped against the wall under the window, only to hear the same sounds.  Weren’t windows and walls usually made of different materials?  She had this weird feeling that the windows weren’t supposed to sound like this.  A flash of movement in her periphery had her spinning around in alarm, one hand raised to—<br/><br/>The two women from earlier walked past her without even a glance, entering the house they had<span style="font-style: italic">just left</span>no less than five minutes ago!  She hadn’t really been paying attention, but she didn’t recall seeing anything different about the two.  Had the pair just walked from one house to another?  Were they a patrol of some sort?  But they hadn’t confronted her or her companions about their unexpected presences here.  If they were guards, they weren’t very good at being guards.  The blue haired woman eyed the door to the house curiously before seeming to make up her mind.  She spared a glance at the group and then, with seemingly reckless abandon, opened the door and walked in herself.