While trying to not make it look like anything of the kind, Anni was carefully shifting her way toward the captive.  A small shift in her feet as she turned toward the various events; an inconspicuous slide to the side giving Tabitha more than enough space to pass; a small twirl to look at the path behind them and forward again that moved her another foot closer.  In all her efforts to make sure it didn't look like she was going to the madman, it certainly couldn't be missed that she was slowly but steadily approaching him.

The small girl couldn't help but ask herself, 'Why?'  That person was terrifying!  He had already uttered the most horrifying oaths Anni had ever heard.  He had attacked Michael back at C-route.  It was Anni's simple opinion that he was behaving more ferociously than a three-day-starved lioness guarding two cubs.  His actions were so much more akin to an animal backed into the smallest of corners than they were to a thinking, reasoning man given [i]more freedom than any normal human could ever experience.[/i]

Anni paused in her beeline.  She had been thinking they were all under stress, but humans were capable of rising above that.  But suddenly the idea of freedom through the power of the mask she held was riveted in the forefront of her mind.  What did that mean, 'freedom?'  How would having those strange powers (and going through that... [i]process[/i] to gain them) make her any more free?

[i]The truth will set you free.[/i]

It was a verse she was familiar with, and she could hear it now in her mother's voice.  Freedom comes from truth.  The mask in her skirts... was it truth?  It seemed an awfully silly question to ask herself in her head; Anni's hand reached down and felt it through the cloth, the very real and physical form.  Irriss was the truth.  That masks gave power was the truth.  Even the call to gather at C-route last night (was it truly so soon ago?) had been true.  Then if the mask could give her more freedom, that must mean it held more truth.

As interesting as the philosophy of it all was, when Anni's ears caught a faint murmuring from the bound man behind her every thought was redirected to trying to understand it.  At first it was too faint; Anni took a step backward and sat down on the ground, putting herself as close as she could in that instant without outright dashing toward him.

“[color=DC143C]...of many others. Maybe that day will be the day that I seek and love.[/color]”

Anni sat in stunned silence for a moment.  That was a dramatic change from what he had been saying in the hours previous.  She was about to turn around and ask him about it directly, but a different voice--a new voice--gave her a tremendous scare.

“[color=eee0e5]Are you looking for the Magican too?[/color]”

Anni jumped half a foot in the air, squealed in heart-stopping surprise, spun around to face this new person, and tumbled backward all in the same motion.  She crashed to the dirt, bounced once, and slid just far enough to bump into Ascot's legs.  When her fall finally came to a stop, Anni managed to focus on the new face.  It wasn't a villager, not with those clothes.  He was an adult wearing what could only have come from the twenty-first century.  It came as such a shock that Anni's first words were not an answer to his question, but instead, "[color=ff4500]You're real?[/color]"

Immediately a slight blush tinted her cheeks; that was not the first thing to say to a person.  Anni jumped up quickly, grabbing her skirt to offer a polite curtsy.  "[color=ff4500]I mean, yes!  We are!  I'm Anni, Anni Parkinson, this is Ascot, and- and-[/color]  And the only thing that stopped Anni's flustered introductions was the fact that in her panic she couldn't remember any of the other names.