Clad in a hooded silk robe so light it was almost sheer, Silken Rays of Hope took two more steps out of the alleyway, made a hard right, and threw herself into the nearest empty char on a small outdoor patio. She waited, casting a subtle glance over her shoulder to see if anyone followed her... and when no one did, she breathed a sigh of relief. Shed finally lost them, it had taken a while, but they had been rather persistent. Luckily her clothing was so light that the glow from the golden lines that adhered to her flesh was almost unnoticeable in the bright sunlight.<br/><br/>Silk had never been to the festival before, but she had talked to people about how this was supposed to go, and she had picked up the<em>tension</em>in the atmosphere. The goddess had not appeared at the ordained time... so naturally she had (loudly) pointed out that the goddess might be more inclined to appear if she was worshipped more than one day a year, after all, she was the most important goddess in the city. Overall, the people she had spoken to seemed to support the idea, which the young solar had taken as a good sign...<br/><br/>Unfortunately, they did not, take so well to the suggestion to throwing the Immaculate monks out of the city.<br/><br/>Infact, they had considered that quite objectionable.<br/><br/>And had started chasing her.<br/><br/>Silk was fairly certain she was in no real danger from a crowd of mortals, but she had not been willing to test that out right then. After all, it was not their fault, they simply needed a stronger shock to pull the wool from their eyes. She would wait untill the sun set, clearly at that point the goddess wouldnt be coming. Perhaps then the people would be more willing to listen to what she had to say.<br/><br/>...<br/><br/>It was around this point that Silk noticed there was someone sitting across from her, and with a bit of surprise, she realized she was at a Akhetani Tea House. The man was holding a extremely fancy cup in his hands and blinking somewhat owlishly at her. So Silk gave a winning smile and lowered her hood to reveal her face, "Sorry," she apologised, "Do you mind if I sit here a while? I had a disagreement with some very narrow-minded men..."