A dish that resembled scrambled eggs at first glance appeared to be moving slightly when watched just a little longer. Nothing too obvious; enough that it could easily be dismissed as a trick of the light. A pasta-based dish of some kind looked just a little too red when glanced at a second time; the sauce borrowing the colour of nothing quite so much as freshly spilled blood…

<Well now, that certainly won’t do!> The imp remarked, and smoothly snatched up a champagne flute from the table. Handing it to Tamara, he punctuated the action with a little bow. Giggling, she accepted the drink.

Raising the glass in the imp’s direction as though in a toast, she nodded once. “Why, how perceptive!” She took a sip, closing her eyes at the taste and sighing in bliss. “It’s wonderful!” Young as she was, Tam had little experience with alcoholic beverages, but as the flavours danced on her tongue, she could easily believe the claim.

Time seemed to pass quickly, then. Tamara found herself laughing more often than she could ever remember laughing; an impressive feat, given what a happy individual she tended to be. Cinder fluttered anxiously around her as she moved about the glade, greeting the collected fae there like old friends. Most were Pokemon, naturally, but there were a few players present. Or perhaps they were NPCs? Regardless, the teen found herself floating about the room like quite the social butterfly, quite enjoying herself as she steadily sipped at the fairy wine.

Tamara, for her part, laughed breezily, clapping her hands delightedly along with the rhythm. “Oh how wonderful!” She beamed, twirling on the spot and snatching hold of Cinder’s hand as she went. “Dance with me, Cind!” The demand was lightened by laughter, and she completely ignored the Combusken’s worry.

<Tamara...> the fire-type tried, going along with the dance while shooting concerned glances around them at the assembled crowd. They were not the only ones dancing, but there were a number of eyes on them as they moved, and that, she found concerning.

The obscuring wall of feathers couldn’t last forever though, and eventually, it fell. As the current song came to an end, Tam spun on the spot, glorying in the wild music and movement and sheer spirit of the place. Her eyes sparkled and head spun a little, and finally she came to a stop.

Only for someone to step up beside her, resting a light hand on her elbow. <May I cut in?> Came a gentle voice. She glanced down, beaming to see plump, pink and cream coloured pokemon with bright blue eyes. It honestly wasn’t that much shorter than she was herself, and she recognised something of a kindred spirit in those eyes.

She was just throwing her head back to laugh aloud at something her current dance partner said, when a chill settled around the glade. A shiver was torn from the teen’s slight frame, and silence fell. Everybody stilled, unease drawing the air tight like a bow, and for the first time since arriving, Tamara began to feel afraid.

“What’s going on?” She murmured uneasily, her voice seeming to echo around the clearing in spite of the low, hushed tone.

Perhaps she would have lingered, frozen in fear, too paralysed by dread to move, if it hadn’t been for the ever-reliable Cinder. Snatching her hand, the Combusken dragged her away, back into the trees through which they’d arrived and towards the fairy ring they’d hopped into to get here.

As they hustled away from the clearing, a sinister presence seemed to loom large behind them, the hair on the back of Tamara’s neck standing on end. The Impidimp from before was with them, darting ahead and leading the way through the otherwise impossible to navigate forest.