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[h2][color=598527][i][b]Kathryn Pyke[/b][/i][/color][/h2][i][b][color=598527]Human, Battle Master, Level 03[/color][/b][/i]
[color=598527][i][b]HP:[/b][/i][/color] 31 / 31	[color=598527][i][b]Armor Class:[/b][/i][/color] 19 [color=598527][i][b]Conditions:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=598527][i][b]Location:[/b][/i][/color] Inside bed and breakfast
[color=598527][i][b]Action:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=598527][i][b]Bonus Action:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=598527][i][b]Reaction:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
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	Kathryn looked at the note, even more confused when seeing it. No wonder the poor girl was terrified. She knew so little, and so much was happening so fast. Kathryn wanted desperately to help her out though. "[color=598527]Do you know where she may have gone? We may be able to find her before she returns?[/color]" Kathryn said optimistically. Hoping that would help reassure the poor girl everything would be alright. [color=darkgray][i]"I don't know,"[/i][/color] responded Lizbeth, her voice whispering a childlike lamentation. [color=darkgray][i]"Aunt Ceecee and I were the first to come down for supper. I left to go wash up like she told me to. When I got back, she was gone."[/i][/color] The girl sniffled a bit as tears welled up in her eyes, [color=darkgray][i]"The front door was open and this was at her place setting."[/i][/color] Lizbeth pointed to the dining table and the door in turn, confusion and sorrow playing heavily on her face. The response wasn't the game changer she hoped it was. Kathryn worried Cecily could have been taken by force, had legitimate concerns and left in a hurry, or could have been one of those turned already.

	Kathryn wished she knew how to make Lizbeth feel safe. She was isolated and alone. Scared and unsure of everything going on around her. She wanted so badly to embrace the poor girl in a hug. Let her know she was safe. But there was that little voice in the back of her head telling her she wasn't safe. Physical contact with anyone could always turn into letting her guard down, her not being ready if someone tries to hurt her, make her vulnerable to ill intentions. The screams off in the distance only made that voice in the back of her head worse. She imagined what Lizbeth was going through right now was very comparable to how she felt when her home was destroyed. The sounds of those unfortunate enough to have been found being cut down, every person who was supposed to be there for you now being dead or gone, and your best hope being some strangers who you barely know. Kathryn gave at that point, remembering how scared she was more than a dozen years ago. How scared and alone she felt, she figured Lizbeth was in much the same boat. Silencing the voice in the back of her mind Kathryn took the shield off her arm and began to hold her arms out. Hesitating at first, she reached out again and embraced Lizbeth in a firm and safe hug, though still soft enough to not hurt her or crush her under all the steel. "[color=598527]It's going to be okay darling. Everything is going to be okay.[/color]" Despite everything working against her, the hug was gentle and protective.

	Without breaking the protective hug, Kathryn turned ever so slightly to the rest of the party and mouthed "[color=598527][i]What do we do?[/i][/color]" She wanted to go out and find Cecily, but they were out of time. They could hold up there, but that may leave Lea unprotected, and they knew nothing about this place. It seemed no more secure than anywhere else they had been so far. Maybe less so. And for sure, the rats would have watched them enter. The loft or the public house they may be able to make distance first. But they were stuck between a rock and a hard place, and Kathryn found herself split on how to handle the situation at hand.