Adrianna departed from Malvin’s office but only got a few steps before a small child ran into her. No, it wasn’t just any kid, it was that girl, the seer. Her eyes were puffy and red, and though it was possible she had just seen something upsetting, Adrianna got the impression that it was something more…tangible bothering her. “Are you alright?” She asked, though the child made like she was just going to run for it anyway. 

Glancing back over to the door, Adrianna wondered where she had come from, only to remember that the door itself was a closet. Being from the city, Adrianna could imagine a multitude of reasons a child might be crying in the closet. Perhaps she had just been taking a break from people, and the stimuli that brought on visions. Perhaps someone was harsh towards her, or perhaps someone had hurt her. 

The thought of someone laying a hand on the girl, sent a shiver down her spine, and she casually opened the door to the closet, her paranoia making her think for a moment that she might actually find someone there. But there was no one, and Amune had answered that she was going to help the healers. Adrianna raised a brow, curious about the young girl with visions who also proclaimed herself a healer. Did she have both magics? Or was learning about healing more of a hobby? 

Amune went on to say that she should be practicing with Gage. “I’m sorry he scares you. But he is not trying to hurt you. He is trying to help keep you from getting hurt by people who don’t care that you are young.” Adrianna didn’t know enough about her “training” and why Gage was chosen to try to interfere. She was going to be traveling with the group, though, so she was curious just what the young girl was learning from the seasoned fighter. The girl darted off to work with the healers, and Adrianna spent some time with some of the other mages she had come to know in Mutebo. 

Over the next day, she had considered asking Taliya about the training decisions for the kid, and to perhaps talk about working with Amune herself instead, but she didn’t get the chance. Taliya was very busy, and Adrianna wasn’t sure she really wanted to volunteer herself for another task. Adrianna was reading one of the books donated to the small Mutebo library when she got the message to drop everything and go see Taliya. She waited outside of the office as some of her other future traveling companions assembled, though none of them seemed to have any idea what was going on either.

She dreaded the thought that Lionel would appear, or that perhaps he was already in Taliya’s office. As figures left the room, she tried to lean in to see if Lionel was working with Taliya in the room. She hadn’t seen him, but she couldn’t be sure. Fortunately, that question was answered when they were guided in. Adrianna moved all the way in and leaned against a wall opposite Taliya’s desk, leaving plenty of room for the others. Though she had been ordered to do things by Taliya, she wasn’t sure what kind of ‘missions’ the others had been on for her, unless training counted as a mission (which she did not). 

Taliya then explained that she was sending them on a mission, which she called training. Adrianna didn’t care for the likening of the two. Training suggested that failure was okay, and the goal was self-improvement. This sounded like a search and rescue, one in which failure led to dire consequences. The mission was multi-part. They needed to find the merchants who had left the day before (the ones Adrianna passed early in the day), and they needed to find Gage. Adrianna had already ruled out salvaging the stuff, knowing it would be too difficult to get back to Mutebo if the crew manning the wagon had run into trouble.

The others questioned why, but Adrianna stayed silent. Taliya didn’t have to justify herself, really. They were staying in her territory, and her mantra was something like: [i]“Do whatever the fuck I say, or get out of the way.”[/i] They should have been asking questions about the merchants’ path, or when Gage was sent to find them, so they could get an idea of where they needed to go to try to intercept the group without potentially stumbling across the same trap, assuming there was one. 

“I’ve got a question.” Adrianna interjected as Taliya tried to wave them out. The others began to leave, but Adrianna stuck around for a few moments. Without this information, they would just be wandering around the main road out of Mutebo and flipping coins to pick directions to take. “Where was the merchant pair going, and did they have a set path they were planning to take?” Adrianna asked. 

"To sell shit, where do you think? Where doesn't matter, because where they should be is [I]here[/I]. They'll be on the road somewhere. Or in some animal's stomach. Just find out where they went." Taliya replied with her usual grace and poise.

“Wow. How helpful.” Adrianna said, her voice oozing with sarcasm. With the others not in the room, she didn’t try terribly hard to keep her tone neutral, and the femininity was more prevalent. “Well, if we don’t come across them by the time the path splits, we’ll just flip a coin.” Adrianna added, annoyed that they were being told to do something without all of the information. Hell, they might as well leave Ethan in charge of navigation.

She caught the others before they had gotten too far, and Ethan asked her where to start. “Yea, I—” Nymira interrupted and gave her opinion, suggestion they ask a guard which direction they went. When she turned things over again to Adrianna, the woman began again. “Yea, I saw the merchants yesterday when I was escorting some people into Mutebo, but there is really only one path out. The merchants had to take the road, because of the goods they were transporting. Gage might have gone through the woods instead, and I guess a guard might have chatted with them before they left and gotten some idea, but my guess he stuck close to the road so he wouldn’t miss the merchants.

Nymira made a comment about Gage not being alive, though Ethan seemed to think that Gage would be fine. “Either way, we need answers. Is there anything anyone needs to get before we depart?” Adrianna moved to the front of the group and began to walk out of the building. She always had her bag on her, in case she needed to go, but she wasn’t sure the others were so prepared. Ideally, they should only be gone a few hours. However, ideals generally weren’t safe to rely upon.

Ethan and Nymira were ready, or so they claimed, and so Adrianna turned her attention to the others. If they needed something, the group would make a detour. Otherwise, they would briskly leave the compound, with Adrianna in the lead. She paused at the gate and turned to Nymira, offering the woman the chance to ask the guards about Gage, if she wanted. The woman was flippant at best, and so, with a shrug, Adrianna continued on out of Mutebo along the main road.