The Gypsies - Tourney 1351

((OOC: Madison, I figure Dimia and Reyna can come in at the end and identify the gypsies.))

Arya sat outside a large orange and gold striped tent with a flaming sun emblazoned on it. Gavin would be coming out to meet her any minute now. Preferably before one of his kin shoos me away for being a peasant, she thought.

"Ain't these tents somethin'?" Seamus noted, wandering over to her. "I never seen so many colors!"

"Quiet down before you get us arrested," she said, half-sarcastically. "Wow..."

Seamus followed her stare and looked on in wonder. A gold and onyx hilted sword was stuck into the ground outside a matching tent, the jewels glinting in the sun.

"Wonder how much that's worth," Peyton whispered.

Arya jumped with a start. Where had he come from?

"Who's tent is that?" he asked, sitting down next to her.

"House Beaumont," she answered without hesitation. She grew up with those colors. "I can't believe it's just sitting there."

"Aye," Seamus nodded. His glance shifted to another tent. "Hey, is that Kolby?"

"Oh, yeah," Arya smiled, squinting in the light. "Oi, Kolby! C'mere!"

Kolby had just come out of a tent that sold tarts, eating a couple. His little sisters were following him, also with some tarts. Gloria tugged on Kolby's sleeve to get his attention.

"Those people are calling for you," Thea pointed out. Kolby wave at them.

"They're all peasants," Thea said.

"They're friends from school. It's fine," Kolby explained.

"Let's meet them!" Gloria said happily, bounding up to the group. Kolby sighed and followed behind the girls.

"I didn't know you had sisters," Peyton commented.

"Just these two. This is Thea. She'll be starting Hogwarts not this year but the year after. And, this is Gloria," Kolby introduced.

"Pleased to meet you," Thea said happily, doing a tiny curtsy. Gloria rolled her eyes. Kolby spotted Richard and Ulric.

"Alright you two. Run off," Kolby said, pointing out Ulric and Richard to them.

"Ulric!" Thea said happily, bouncing off towards there older brothers.

"Nice to meet you," Gloria said, running after her sister. Kolby rolled his eyes.

"Family comes first," Gloria and Thea called back to him.

"Family comes first," Kolby responded. The girls and the older brothers walked back to the tent.

"Sorry about that. Tarts?" he asked.

Arya and the lads dug into the tarts, brushing the crumbs off their clothes when they were done. Yep, it's obvious we're peasants, Arry thought to herself, finishing off the flaky crust.

"Have you heard the news about Roger Armand?" Peyton asked them. "Overnight, they brought in a trained wizard physician, and he fixed him right up. Well, he'll still have bed rest and a limp for a bit, but that's just to fool the muggles."

A minute later, Gavin stepped out of the Lydale tent and headed over to them. He wasn't in full disguise, but his clothes weren't as nice as normal.

"So, what're we doing today?" he asked, smiling, before noticing Kolby. "Oh, hello there."

"Gavin, don't be rude," Arya warned.

"Why would I be rude to a traitor?" he started.

"Mate, don' ye remember?" Seamus asked.

"He's not really a part of the Ministry," Peyton whispered.

After a second, Gavin recalled this little piece of information, and grinned, apologizing to Kolby. With that out of the way, the group carried on and walked around. Apparently, there was a nice pond around here, and they wanted to swim.

"Wait, let me go grab something," Gavin said, running back to his tent. When he came back, he looked a bit worried. "Guys, the sword...it's gone."

"Wait....the Beaumont family sword is gone?" Kolby asked. Gavin nodded and looked very worried. Kolby looked around for any suspicious characters. But, there were too many people and he couldn't see deep into the crowd.

"What are you going to do about it?"Peyton asked.

"Well, we have to get it back," Seamus said. Kolby nodded and kept observing people. No one looked outwardly suspicious, but he did notice that a man and a woman were walking very close to each other. Kolby's eyes darted to their neck and their fingers, where there were no wedding rings. Not to mention their clothes were unusaul, like they were nomads.

"Gypsies," Kolby said, staring at the couple, who were walking close to other nobles tents. Gavin followed his line of sight and took a few steps into the crowd, like expecting to follow them. Kolby stopped him.

"We don't know that they stole it. But, they're prime candidates. They're walking too close to tents and they're not married but walking close together," Kolby informed.

"So, what do we do then?" Peyton asked.

"We follow them, but keep our distance. If they steal anything else, we'll confront them about it and if things get serious, we call guards or fight," Kolby instructed.

"Now, all they need is some bait. Follow them closely. They're making their way around the circle. I'll be right back,"Kolby informed, taking off to his own family's tent. He took a short cut through tents and between shops. He got there and approached his father.

"Ah, Kolby. I was just talking to Lord Hobbes about a betrothal," his father informed.

"Oh......how interesting. Father, may I see the family helmet? I think it need a little polishing," he asked. His father saw that he was in a hurry.

"Of course. Just be careful. It's been in the family for a while," his father agreed, not really asking why. Kolby smiled and bowed to his father. There's a reason he asked his father and not his mother. His father was more lackadaisical. He took the helmet from the pedestal it was on and grabbed a rag and a bowl of soap and water too. Kolby then went out the opening of the tent and sat down by the entrance of his tent. He went to "polishing" his family helmet, as he saw the gypsies and his friends, following 10 feet behind, round the corner and heading towards him.

(OOC: I was thinking the woman can fake faint and Kolby would like catch her, dropping the helmet, and Arya can kind of just observe it all and we follow them a bit longer.)

Arya and the lads discreetly (they hoped) followed Kolby and the gypsies. The girl was unearthly pretty, and sort of glowing. Seamus guessed that they were probably magic folk. Of course, his mother is a gypsy, Arry remembered.

"What's she doing?" Gavin muttered, watching the girl.

The pair slowed as they reached Kolby's tent, and then came to a stop altogether. The girl hunched over a bit, hand on her head, then passed out with a sigh. Kolby gallantly caught her before she hit the ground. Arya focused on the helm by his feet.

"What on earth?!" she whisper-shouted. The helm had disappeared into thin air!

"Oh, they're definitely magic," Peyton said firmly.

"Pretend to faint, distract the owner, then vanish the loot," Gavin put it all together. "They're clever."

Kolby caught the gypsy woman, abandoning the helmet. The gypsy woman was beautiful, taking Kolby's breath away and making him blush.

"Oh! Thank you! I'm so sorry! It must be this dreadful heat!" the gypsy woman said, kissing his cheek. Kolby was speechless and the gypsy man pulled the woman away. Once they were far away enough, the group came up to him.

"Kolby, you're brilliant. They took it. Well, technically, it vanished, but still, they did it," Peyton complimented. Kolby smiled.

"Good. Now, we need to follow them to their hideout. Let's get moving," Kolby said, as they went back to following the gypsies.

"The woman is very odd," Gavin commented.

"She's glowing," a little voice piped. Kolby turned around.

"Gloria, what are you doing here?" Kolby asked.

"I saw what happened and I want to make sure that you'll be okay, so I started following you," Gloria said, taking Kolby's hand.

"One, you don't need to worry about me. I can handle myself. Two, you need to go back to the tent. I don't want you getting hurt," Kolby told her.

"But, Kolby....." Gloria started.

"Hey. I'll be okay. Your big brother can take care of himself," he said, going down to her level.

'Well.......alright. But, if your not back by dinner, I'm telling daddy," Gloria said, hugging Kolby then running back to the tent.

"How sweet," Peyton commented as they went back to walking.

"Where did they go?" he asked.

"I was watching them. They ducked into the de Hattes tent," Seamus informed. Kolby nodded and they watched the gypsies.

Arya and the group stood discreetly in the shadows of a tent and watched for the gypsies. A few moments later, they exited the de Hattes tent, shown out by a kindly looking old guardsman. They smiled gratefully and walked away.

"What'dya tink they did?" Seamus asked, staring.

"I bet they pretended they didn't know where they were," Arya guessed, shaking her head. "I wonder what they took from the de Hattes?"

"Let's keep moving," Gavin said.

They walked on, keeping a good distance from the pair. Arry saw their next item from a ways away. A boy about their age was holding what looked like a small toy ball, but it glittered in the sunlight. As they got closer, she saw that it was really bejeweled with rubies and emeralds.

"What house is this?" Peyton whispered, and the group stopped in the shadows again to watch.

"That's one of the Armand twins," Gavin told them.

Who has a ball bejeweled with rubies and emeralds? Kolby thought. The boy dropped the ball and started screaming the it was gone. Kolby rolled his eyes as the gypsies kept walking.

"He's going to alert the guards," Gavin said.

"Let's keep following," Kolby decided. They kept following the gypsies until they went into a gypsy camp.

"Do we want to go in there?" Gavin asked.

"No. But, we have to think of a solution," Kolby said, as they went to thinking about what to do. But, a minute later, the gypsy couple came walking out again.

"Looks like they're making more another round about the tent," Peyton said. They went back to the tourney.

"We should try to find their tent while they're away," Gavin said.

"No. We need to follow them again," Peyton countered. Kolby rolled his eyes and looked Arya, wanting her to solve this.

Reyna had been roaming around the campgrounds with Dimia, bored out of her mind. It was hot, crowded, and noisy, and all she wanted to do was lay in the garden at York Castle and play with Chester.

"That's strange, I thought I just saw..." she began, staring into a rather peculiar ring of tents. "Dimia, is that the gypsy pair from Lincoln?"

It couldn't be, she thought, moving closer. Reyna jumped behind a fence and peered out as the couple walked past them. Sure enough, it was the abnormally beautiful glowing girl and her rather gnarly companion. What were they doing here?

"I still don't remember anything from that night, but I'm certain they had something to do with it," she muttered. "Oh, look, those are some of Symon's friends, I think."

A group of teens seemed to do exactly what she and Dimia were doing: sneaking and spying. They were watching the pair and seemed to be looking for their tent. Reyna didn't know what they were up to, but she wanted to help.

"Dimia, get the guards," she said. "Those gypsies are thieves, I'm sure of it!"

Reyna rushed over to the Hogwarts students and didn't even bother with manners.

"I'll take you to the gypsies' tent," she told them.

Kolby and the group followed Reyna as she took them to the tent. Sure enough, sitting on a blanket on the ground, were the prizes the gypsies stole. Peyton walked in and a loud noised popped off in the tent, probably there to warn of intruders or to scare off Muggles. Then, Kolby watched a little enchanted wooden mouse scamper off to find the gypsy couple.

"Great. They trapped it,"Gavin said with a huff.

"Let's the stuff before they come back then," Kolby responded, grabbing his family's helm. Once everyone had something in their arms, they went to leave the tent.

"HEY! What are you kids doing here?!" the gypsy man yelled at them, coming back to the tent. The woman looked like she was about to kill all of them.

"We're taking back the items you stole!" Peyton replied. Other gypsies in the camp ran off in opposite directions, not wanting to risk their life or a punishment.

"You lumpish sheep-biting louts better give me our stuff back or else you'll be sorry," the man said, pulling out his wand. Peyton and Gavin did the same. Dimia better get here quick, Kolby thought.

How hard is it to find guards? Dimia thought as she ran around the joust, trying to find anyone. She stopped herself when she saw two of the king's guards walking by.

"Hi,hi,hi. My friends. Help. Gypsies. Thieves. Help," Dimia said quickly and out of breath. They stared at her. She took a deep breath and slowed down.

"There are gypsies thieves and my friends are in trouble. Please. We need help," Dimia pleaded.

"Lead us the way," the guards said. Dimia took off and the guards followed. Hopefully,they're both wizards, Dimia thought, taking them to the camp.

"There they are!" Dimia yelled, pointing to the gypsies, who were closing in on Reyna and everyone. They turned and looked at Dimia and they took off. But, they tripped and guards picked them up. Gavin showed them the tent, as they put cuffs on the gypsies.

"Thank you kids. We will return the stolen items after we take these two to the king for punishment. Dirty gypsies," one of the guards said. The kids watched as they were taken away, kicking and screaming.

"What do you think will happen?" Dimia asked.

"Hanging. Or life in jail," Peyton replied. Dimia shivered. But, that was the end of the gypsies.