[IC] Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

[Vena Sera]

Well this was a truly dreadful turn of events. How had something as simple as shopping for supplies turned into a kidnapping? Were it a smaller town finding Amuné would be simple, someone would have doubtless seen something. Yet with such a busy place as Warren, with crowds cluttering the roads, someone could likely slip away and remain largely unnoticed. What a cowardly thing to do too, kidnapping a child like this; prisoners of war existed in Dimuran culture but even then they were given some degree of respect. Kidnapping was an act about as shameless and as void as honor as one could carry out and there was no forgiving it. They would have to find their young friend somehow and sooner rather than later, there was no telling where her captor may have taken her. Nymira had to take charge of the situation with Ethan all out of sorts, sending off Geoffrey before addressing those still behind. Panicking and running around blindly wouldn't help them any, one had to keep a clear head to accomplish anything.

"Be at ease, Cecil. If you cannot track Amuné then there are other ways, it's fine," Nymira muttered, frowning as she glanced around for some idea. There had to be something, right? She knew people from her village had been stolen away before yet she had never taken part in rescuing them, that had always been the duty of their soldiers. Had she one of her guards with her still they would likely know which course of action to take, all she could do was stand there idly without a clue. Hearing the sounds of heavy footfalls again she spotted Geoffrey and Zander on their way back, relieved that the healer had been found so quickly. There was no knowing what was in Wyth's system and waiting could have disastrous results. It appeared as though everything had been explained already which saved her the trouble as Zander promptly went to work. She wasn't sure how he intended to help the moorcat but when she saw a telltale green glow a look of annoyance spread across her face. Grabbing Ethan by the shirt she pulled him over, making him stand in place to obscure what was happening to any bystanders. "Honestly Zander, why not raise a flag while you're at it?"

It wasn't abundantly clear why Nymira was pulling him until he noticed the magic as well, smiling with relief at Zander's presence. Difficult as he might be sometimes no one could deny his helpfulness, no one could do what Zander could. His ability to be able to mend wounds in an instant made him an invaluable member of their ragtag team and all the more reason to befriend him, not that Ethan needed much more reason. While the process was undertaken he stood with his back to them, smiling and waving at the occasional passerby who looked their way, just trying to keep their eyes off of what was happening at his back. Once it was completed he greeted Wyth with a relieved smile, reaching down and petting the animal on his back. "Thank goodness... You had me really worried, glad to see you're back to your old self. And thank you Zander, I'm sure Amuné appreciates it too."

"Speaking of Amuné we really need to come up with a plan. She could be anywhere in this place," Nymira interjected, placing her hands on her hips as her brow knit together in thought, "My limited experience in this kingdom tells me criminals like to work out of warehouses. Only problem is this town doesn't appear to have many, and all of them are near crowded areas. So if we don't look there then where?" She wouldn't even know where to begin their search as towns here were so different from hers back home. Dimuran villages weren't terribly primitive, they even had moderate sized stone and brick buildings in some of the larger ones such as her own, built by talented craftsmen. That was where the similarities ended, the layouts were different and there were far more people, she couldn't imagine what the cities were like. "We have to think of something, I doubt her captors will give us a chance to catch them if we take too long."

"Right... There's got to be something we can do, let's see..." What did the guards tend to do when someone went missing? They usually checked where the person was last spotted, and then... Look for clues there? Beyond that he had no clue what guards did but Ethan figured they should begin there at the very least, perhaps they could find something to help point them in the right direction. "I know! Let's go back to the body, there might be something there that we can use," Ethan suggested, smiling uneasily as he itched his cheek, "He uh... He won't be talking, he's kind of come down with a sudden case of the death, but... There's bound to be something right? Or maybe someone saw something."

"It's a good a plan as any, at least that way we may get a lead," Nymira agreed, nodding to herself before looking at Cecil, "We can leave the cart where it is for now, I doubt anyone can steal it." Letting Ethan take the lead they moved again through the crowds of people, doubling back to the alleyway which he had come running from. Finding their way back was simple even with Ethan's lack of navigation skills and yet an unexpected hurdle was thrown their way. A crowd had since gathered outside of the alleyway and were obscuring their path, and doubtless guards weren't too far behind. Wanting to move quickly she took Ethan's arm and dragged him through with her, pushing him along once in the narrow corridor and pointing to the man's corpse. "You're the self-proclaimed guard, are you not? Then get to work, tell us what we need to know."

"I'm really not a guard, but I'll give it a shot," Ethan replied, watching the rest of the group file in after them. Going to the corpse he wrinkled his nose in disgust at the smell of blood, crouching down and trying to avoid looking at the kill wounds on the man's side. "Sorry about this sir, I need to take a look..." Reaching into his jacket he looked for anything that might be of use, finding nothing other than an empty canteen and a half burned cigar. The rest of his search turned up completely fruitless as well and before he could finish it a group of guards had arrived on the scene, ushering Ethan to get back after he quickly explained he wasn't looting the man's corpse. He didn't know if he should mention Amuné's kidnapping to them or not though even if he tried he and the others were pushed away and never given the chance, leaving them without a lead.

"Some professionals. For all they know he was related to you," Nymira grumbled in disapproval, watching as the guards blocked off the way and began doing exactly what Ethan had been. "I suppose it can't be helped, unless we want to get the ire of the local guards. If that was a failure though I can't imagine where we go from here..." The corpse had revealed nothing to them and she hadn't recognized the man, nor did it look like the others did either. Damn it all, what reason would anyone have for grabbing Amuné? She was a child, a nondescript child with nothing to show really save for maybe a few coins she'd been given to shop, and yet Ethan had the money she had given. So why grab her?

Those children looked terribly distraught, they hadn't found anything had they? She was certain she saw the white-haired boy with the young lady before hadn't she? Was she his sister or something like that? Shuffling over to the group an older woman pulled on the sleeve of Ethan, looking up at him sympathetically as he gave her a puzzled look in turn. "You poor things... Was that your sister? The one that man had?"

Ethan's heart skipped a beat at the elderly woman's question, reaching out and placing his hands on her arms as he shook his head. "Not my sister, but I'm kind of her caretaker, I've been watching out for her. Why? Do you know her? Did you see where she went?"

The elderly woman nodded in reply before smiling apologetically, "I do, but I don't know where the man is going. He took the girl in his arms, said she had been attacked, he was taking her home. But I had a bad feeling about the man, and when I saw you run out of the alley I knew he had been lying. He ran up the road a ways that way," she explained with a pointed gesture, "He disappeared in another alley, I don't know where he's gone from there. I'm terribly sorry dear, perhaps the guard--"

"Thank you so much ma'am, and we'll take care of it, thank you," Ethan beamed, leaning down and kissing the woman on the forehead before digging into his pockets. Feeling like he owed the woman something more he grabbed a nondescript amount of currency from the pouch and placed it in her empty hands, turning to the group as she stared at the small pile confused. "Alright, we're heading that way! She can't be too far!" If this woman had seen something then someone else had to as well, they only had to keep asking until they found the trail. Hopefully Amuné could hang in there, they wouldn't be too far behind.

[AlexStarsion]

Geoffrey helped Zander to his feet and laughed when Wyth almost knocked him right back over. He wasn't sure himself on what Zander had planned but kept his body blocking as much as he could on the other side. He wanted to scold Zander but Nymira had beaten him too it. Deciding to leave it at that, he walked along with the group, a steadying hand on Zander's shoulder as the Muran seemed to be blowing on the red mark on his arm near where he had jabbed the dart and where Wyth had given him the warning bite.

"Blowin' on it ain't gonna help it none," Geoffrey pointed out grin firmly in place. His own worry was slowly gaining a hold on him. "So what made ya leave both of 'em to go back to da inn?"

Zander rolled his eyes, "I was taught when you have very little to say, it's best to keep ones mouth firmly shut." He shrugged off Geoffrey's hand and watched as Ethan searched the body. When the guards basically shooed them away and an elderly woman had given them better directions, Zander tilted his head to the side.

"Why did she not stop them or call the guards," Zander asked aloud. "If she had a feeling the man who took off with the br-- Amune, why not call for the guard herself?" He stopped himself from calling Amune brat again. Looking over to Cecil who didn't seem to know what to do he felt much the same. He had no skills in this area besides healing injuries. Unconciously he patted Wyth's large head between the ears and looked around.

Geoffrey was speaking to Nymira but his eyes kept scanning the surrounding area.

"Not much in warehouses no," Geoffrey seemed to be a little belayed on his response. "Enough of the houses though wouldn't let someone who ain't doin' good through their way. 'opefully they didn' head onwards. Make it 'arder to track the little princess down. Speaking of trouble along the road." He walked up to Nymira and held out her daggers. "Just in case, ya?"

[Mogtaki]

Cecil still felt pretty terrible for not being able to do such a basic thing like tracking, especially when he was supposed to be useful to them. He was feeling close to being a waste of time taking when he was so short compared to everyone else and not able to get any advantage to help try and find her, he was just kind of being taken along with them. If he got lost in the crowd he might end up running further away from them while he tried to look for them, only finding he was unable to see where they were because everybody else was so tall. It was rather awkward, thinking he was going to be of some help going along when he wouldn’t be whatsoever. Maybe he should had asked to stay with the cart, it would certainly limit the risk of him getting lost as well.

Keeping quiet and to himself he simply followed on behind everyone, trying to blend into the background more than try and keep out of the public eye. He didn’t know who might be part of that organisation that wanted him for whatever reason so it was best to try and act normal and not put himself in the limelight. It was one thing to get lost but to be taken away too, that would just be bad for everyone. Looking to Nymira at the mention of a plan he simply shrugged, thinking it was probably going to be obvious what plan he would have once they found where she was taken. He would go in, beat up the guys or accidentally kill them for everyone, get chastised again for it and they’ll all be on their way out again.

With everything being left behind and the others coming up with their own plan of action Cecil fell into the background, acting as the follower once again. There was probably a function inside him that was used for tracking people, but most of what he was had been locked away behind a wall of program that could only be unlocked at certain times that usually followed with the destruction of his enemies. So far he hadn’t really been useful to the others other than getting the job done quicker than they might had been able to do eventually. Maybe if he was able to get onto the rooftops he’d be able to get a good view, but then again he’d probably attract more attention than needed so that wasn’t going to help much either.

It wasn’t until Ethan had found his way to a corpse were they making any progression, his eyes on the dead man for a moment before gasping when the guards had appeared and were very hastily getting them to back off. Looking to them quickly he immediately went and hid behind Nymira, keeping out of the view of the guards. Frowning a little, he looked around before focusing on the woman who spoke to Ethan, staring at her as Ethan practically interrogated her. Well it seemed someone had spotted where she went off to so that was something, but it wasn’t really helping much when the response was so vague too. Looking off towards the direction she pointed in he looked back to see Ethan doing something that was definitely pretty strange to him. Whatever that was he didn’t dwell on it much, instead wondering why he was giving the woman money instead of following the lead she had given them. Zander was busying questioning the woman in a different manner, giving him a quick glance. He really didn’t know what the deal was either, but he didn’t understand much about the living. “Maybe…had her hands full…” He really was pretty useless for this all and was simply following along, waiting for them to make some progress in this search. Maybe it was already too late, but he didn’t know the motives of these people who took her and was just as clueless as everyone else right now.

[Vena Sera]

"Who knows, perhaps she didn't think of it. No use in questioning it now, won't change our situation," Nymira pointed out, "At least we know the general direction, now it's simply a matter of tracing his steps." If the old woman had seen the man then someone else was bound to have as well, providing them with a trail to follow. Cecil's suggestion for an explanation didn't do much to help with Zander's question but as she'd said there was little use in pondering that now. Ethan had once again begun to move off on his own and with a resigned sigh the Dimuran followed behind him, though perhaps in better judgment letting the directionally challenged one lead was a mistake. How was she to have known she would be beset with so many issues on her travels? Nymira hadn't anticipated the easiest of travels, not after how it had started, but this was beginning to become tedious. These men would be made to pay two fold for their transgressions then: once for taking Amuné and again for delaying her mission. It was as though every place she traveled to there were morons determined to get in her way. Surprised when Geoffrey offered over her daggers she nodded in silent thanks, slipping them into her belt for safe keeping.

No warehouses meant Ethan didn't have a clue where to look, given his very limited experience with criminals. They had to have some kind of place they were working out of, no way could they just be in the middle of some street stashing away kidnapped children. "We'll find her still, just going to be a little tougher, that's all." Approaching the alleyway mentioned by the woman they spotted a man at the entrance on the ground, picking up his merchandise from the ground. A quick inquiry told them a large man sporting a beard and carrying a girl had come rushing through, knocking his stall over as he tried to get down the alleyway. Thanking the man Ethan continued on ahead, coming out onto a now emptier street with only a handful of shops lining its edges. So where to from here? Both ways didn't seem to hold any obvious clues and he couldn't see anyone that particularly stood out. Approaching a pair of men he tried to question them if they had seen anything, moving onto one of the stall owners when that line came up empty.

"We can't be asking every single person, it will take far too long. There must be another way to do this..." Nymira muttered, watching Ethan go about asking anyone who would speak with him. The man wasn't being terribly careful if he'd knocked over that stall so there should be more signs of his flight if they only looked. Leaving Ethan to his questionnaire she wandered a bit from the group, looking for anything that seemed recently disturbed: with the street far less crowded it wasn't too difficult to get a look at their surroundings and yet nothing stood out, no signs that anyone had come bursting through in a hurry. A bit disconcerted she began to double back when something caught her attention, movement out of the corner of her eye. Glancing back she caught sight of a cloaked figure disappearing into an alleyway, having the distinct feeling they had just been watching her. Chalk it up to paranoia perhaps but she swore they had been staring at her, did they know something? Unwilling to let a potential lead go she hurried in the direction of the figure, entering the alleyway and pulling free her daggers. No one in sight, yet she was certain she had seen someone. Where could they have gone?

"I see, thank you sir!" Finally, something that sounded like a lead. After asking a handful of people there was a picture at last of a large man running down the road, cradling something in his arms. No one had gotten a clear look at what he was holding but it fit the bill, that had to be the man they were after. Relieved Ethan clasped his hands together and turned back to the group, his grin wavering slightly when he noticed a particularly short member of their ensemble missing. "Er... Where did Nymira go?" he asked as he glanced around, unable to spot the Dimuran anywhere. Scratching at his head he let out a long sigh before groaning, not sure now if they should look for Nymira or keep searching for Amuné; Amuné was not a trained fighter and she was only a child, she needed someone to look after her. While he hated to think Nymira may have found herself in some trouble as well Ethan was sure she'd just chased her own lead, she could handle her own business for the moment. That being said... "We really shouldn't split up, but we can't make Amuné wait either... I'm going ahead, you guys can wait around for Nymira or come with me." Right call or not he wasn't going to stand around and wait, and so he turned and began his way down the street again, head on a swivel as he looked for more clues.

[AlexStarsion]

Geoffrey bit into the inside of his lip as Nymira cut off from the rest of the group and went off after whatever had gotten her attention. He followed along, thanking the people who had answered Ethan's questions, patting old lady's hands, ruffling the hair of a few kids and altogether just making it seem like they were in a rush to get their sibling back. This was a rather oddball group. He wanted to find the little girl in time before they broke the city limits.

He titled his head as Nymira cut into an alleyway, but shrugged it off for now. She was a big girl, she could handle herself better but if a group of slavers had gotten Amune, even with Wyth beside her. He ran a hand through his brown hair in frustration. He'd double back when Ethan had stopped talking to citizens.

Zander followed at a slower pace, he kept his eyes open for what was around them and watched Wyth move as well. The drugs in the beasts system breaking down was good, but that didn't help his own system from the shock of healing the moor cat. Perhaps he shjould have sent Cecil or Geoffrey to get catnip. It would have been slower in the long run, but would have been less taxing on himself. His wooden clogs clacked on the cobbled street, street vendors still peddled their items, sometimes shouting to others across the way in a friendly yet rivalry that made a few locals roll their eyes.

For such asmall town, it seemed packed full of more life than where they had just been. It felt more carefree, save for this small hiccup going on in their lives. Amune taken, and his feeling of dread deep down in his system didn't help either. Should he open his mouth, tell Ethan he had an idea on who took the brat? No, silly and in bad taste. He'd keep his mouth shut for now, and play it by ear. They hardly knew him after all. Geo wouldn't overstep his bounds either. As they come to a halt, he turned to Cecil when Ethan spoke about breaking into groups. When he opened his mouth, Geoffrey's voice cut over his own.

"Cecil, keep tabs on these three. I'm going to see if I can get to Nymira," he was already heading off back the way they had come. "Zander, if ya find Amune don't do nothing stupid right off, poeople like this leave traps for more... Cecil, don' know ya well but if it comes down to it, ya life and their life is more important than some slave trader's. Don' forget that." With that he sped off in a run, back down the street, dipping and weaving his way between the flow of the street. A few called him names, told him to slow down, but Geoffrey was already gone.

Zander huffed and shook his head, he walked the way Ethan went, patting Wyth on the head and looked at Cecil, "For a bum like him to read this situation... It's a seriously worrying thought... Come on you two, we've got a brat to save. Hopefully," his eyes pinned Cecil down for a moment. "It doesn't come to fighting. You've got enough going on in that little head of yours. Even if you won't speak plainly about it, it hasn't gone unnoticed." He shrugged and continued to walk the way Ethan went in still a lazy manner, his eyes taking in the stales around them.

--

Geoffrey couldn't remember which alleyway Nymira had gone into, but he took his best guess at it. If this was his own home, for as much as he visited he didn't fully know the layout well enough, he'd have gotten onto the rooftops, and travelled that way. People would have yelled, but it would have also alerted the guards to something being amiss besides a random murder. He couldn't pick out a trail in this alleyway, so when he came to a small fork he took the left way in hopes of coming across her trail. This was getting to the point of ridiculousness. Why the Dimuran decided to go off on her own, he didn't know. Backup was on the way, it wouldn't do to have more than one of their party turn up missing at a time. Shaking his head and suddenly feeling paranoid, he stopped in his tracks, pulled out an arrow from the quiver and spun on his booted heel. Nothing was behind him. He let out a sigh of relief but kept the arrow tight in his balled fist. It wouldn't do, for someone to catch him off guard like they had Amune. Though he wasn't much of a melee fighter, he was sure an arrow in the eye would deter even the most persistent of foes.

Catching his breath, and his ears open, he could have sworn he hard footsteps back the way he had come. Letting out am aggravated sigh, he doubled back and this time took the right fork. He couldn't make anyone out in front of him, and was suddenly glad it was daylight. Doing this at night, would have made him more paranoid then not.

[Mogtaki]

If they were leaving immediately after he probably would had jumped to the rooftops and gazed over the landscape that way, but they were going to be hanging around for a while and him jumping around like a Machina and not like a Muran would definitely compromise their stay. He was feeling awful, it wasn’t fair that everything he could do was something to be feared. If Amuné ended up being lost forever he would feel nothing but guilt as if he was the one who took her away, all because it would probably compromise his true self. He didn’t know what he valued more: his own existence or Amuné’s safety. Maybe if he had nobody else with him he would go all out, but everybody who was with him was connected to him and would just be brought down as well.

Stressing out in all sorts of ways he almost forgot that he was supposed to be looking around for her, gasping as Nymira decided to take off. Looking around he soon looked back to Ethan, hearing him wanting to actually head away as well like Nymira. “What? But…” He didn’t understand the logic in that to split up and now he was left panicking pretty good. He didn’t know what to do at this point, it wasn’t as if he was tall enough to see beyond the crowd either. Panicking, he found himself stuck on the spot, unable to make a decision what he was supposed to do. He was only small and barely had company before, he didn’t know how to handle something like this.

Looking to Geoffrey when he spoke he frowned deeply, looking to the others before back again. Why was he leaving too? Were they all just leaving? He didn’t really know Zander and Wyth hated him and with Ethan running on ahead they might end up losing sight of him too. With growing frustration and panic he groaned when Geoffrey decided to leave him with some sort of advice before bailing too. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, he was supposed to be helpful and not act like a spare part for them to carry around. It wasn’t fair, nobody saw him as useful enough to take with them on their searches.

Well this was not going well, he was sure Zander didn’t much like him too and if that was the case he was having to be near two now. If Zander did like him then maybe it would be okay, but otherwise he was still a tagalong. Sighing, he lowered his head momentarily before looking to Zander, frowning as he gave his head a rub. “…Well, even if I said anything, nobody will believe me. It seems pointless to talk about anything, nevermind speaking so plainly about it too”, he spoke, walking along with Zander, “The only person I can talk to is very far away and even he doesn’t know much. I can’t talk about it at all in a place like this and…I doubt you would understand, anyway. I hope…you understand that I can’t talk about anything right now”. It was definitely difficult to explain himself, especially when it would probably frustrate Zander too. Trying to follow after Ethan’s footsteps he wanted to move faster but Zander barely seemed to be trying. “Can’t we go faster? I can’t see through people to see Ethan!”

[Vena Sera]

Asta sighed, all of these people crowding around made getting away even more of a headache. Sure, they were a distraction for others, but crowds made her uneasy. If she could hide in them, so could anybody else. She looked at the piece of parchment with a rough sketch and a name written beneath in scrawled handwriting. The man had an angular jaw and piercing eyes, the artist had clearly made an effort to make him appear more malicious than he really was. Asta had trailed him for a week, but he was nobody special. A lumberyard worker named Daren Carol who came home at the same time every night to his wife and two daughters. He had icy blue eyes at work, but they seemed kind at home. He slept peacefully, like a man with a clear conscience, but had to leave each morning before the rest of his family woke up. Not even his wife was a wicked woman.

This would be another purse of coins she didn’t receive and a payment her manager would miss because she had made the executive decision to abort. This man had no idea who she was, but she knew everything she needed to about him and it would take only a matter of seconds to end his life. Asta stood by the fact that she had yet to grow into a heartless monster who would end any life for little more than a few pieces of gold or silver.

On the other hand, she had found lately that the idea was less abhorrent now than it had once been. The realization came to her when she realized that her father hadn’t needed to take the life of any being that was at least humanoid in all of his years, but she had already taken enough that she required at least both of her hands to count, though she preferred not to. How did men of the military in this world do it? They knew not the people they killed… But she knew each of her victims more intimately than she cared to admit.

From the mouth of the alley now, she scoped out the street, her hood covering her face. She had to leave this town and never go home; this decision was certainly spur of the moment and she was still coping with the fact that now she would either have to go back to her tribe or start yet another life among the Muran. She shuddered at the thought of how difficult it was for her kind to make an honest living here, so perhaps it was time to go back, after all these years. Father would be furious and she would have nothing but this wretched, Saints-forsaken, sorry excuse for an occupation and ‘experience,’ as she called it at first, to show for it. Beyond that, she could not recount any of this; surely she would lose all of her birthright and even her life amongst her own people should she tell them who she had become. Maybe she could live in solitude - it wouldn’t be so bad, relying on nobody but herself and Myria.

Maybe stepping into the open was too clear, she did not want to be seen even walking this town after all. If there was one thing she knew, it was that you had to assume somebody could hear or see everything you were doing, otherwise you could be easily tracked. Some strangers are so good with faces that they’ll remember a description of somebody they saw that only looked slightly mischievous, while others were racist to the point where they made note of any Ydra that walked by them. No, she would slip out of town and make her way as far as possible, following the roads, perhaps slipping into a caravan now and then. Maybe she could try that escorting thing again - that worked once.

She pivoted with a measured ease and walked back into the alley, trying to stay between buildings as she made her way to the gates of town, her long, slender Cobra Fox silently padding alongside her as they walked. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she turned a corner and looked just out of the corner of her eye to glimpse a small figure following her. Asta picked up her pace and tucked herself behind the very next corner she came to, drawing her blade as she awaited her pursuer - who would be following her already?

Who had that figure been? Nymira knew she had seen someone, someone cloaked in a dark garb and peering around the corner. Whether or not their eyes had been on her mattered not, a suspicious figure like that so near to the scene couldn’t be left unchecked. Once she breached the entrance to the alleyway her footfalls became slower and silent, her deep purple eyes slowly moving back and forth, searching for any sign of movement. Her time in battle had conditioned her to be very methodical when in tight spaces, it was very akin to walking through the crevices that littered much of Dimuran territory back home. While she might feel almost at home here she was also highly alert, her hands gripping both daggers securely in anticipation.

“Show yourself, I’ll be far less lenient if I have to search for you,” Nymira called out, frowning as she failed to encounter anyone. Not that she had expected this stranger to simply hand themselves over to her, one didn’t skulk about in a cloak to greet strangers. Letting out a level sigh the Dimuran stopped abruptly when she heard the faint shuffling of fabric, her head swiveling about as both of her arms raised expectantly, blades of her daggers crossing to catch a falcata blade, pushing it to the side before backing off swiftly. No one with good intentions would strike out so callously, and the beast at the woman’s side hardly reassured her that this was a friendly encounter.

There were two facts that she could glean immediately from this encounter: The woman she was contending with was an Ydran, and the beast at her side was doubtless very well trained. On top of that her leg was still hampered from the burn suffered by the Vazra, leaving her mobility somewhat lacking. Her lone saving grace was that in such cramped quarters it would be a difficult fight two on one, she’d have to make use of that.

“Who are you, and why are you here?” She wouldn’t waste time with pleasantries, not when this woman had pulled her weapon on her. Flipping one dagger around so the weapon was inverted she held it a bit higher, prepared to deflect any incoming blows, while the other remained securely gripped in her left hand, ready to strike. “Speak quickly, I don’t have time for petty criminals.”

“I could ask the same of you,” Asta spat, reacting quickly as she raised her blade again, “You were following me, not the other way around. Who are you?” She asked, taking up an offensive stance. This girl spoke like some haughty snob who would grace any who received mercy. The Ydran sneered, noting her opponent’s scaled flesh and the protrusions from her forehead. With a snarl, Asta moved her blade again, aiming really to just push the opposing girl away and recover distance without retreating.

“My business is none of yours, I’m free to enter any city I like and leave much the same. You answer first.”

“Very well, my name is Nymira Rumia, daughter of Hákon Rumia and heir to the Rumia clan. Though I have to wonder why I need to sully myself by sharing my name with a common criminal,” Nymira repeated, narrowing her eyes as she slowly began to move towards the woman, “I won’t ask again, who are you? Answer me or I’ll force you to speak, it matters not to me.”

“My, what in introduction,” Asta retorted, sighing with exasperation. “I have absolutely no cause for my own introduction, I didn’t follow you down a dark alley to assault you, did it? Assuming I’m a criminal because I prefer not to walk through crowds of gawking citizens who, by the way, tend to have a distaste for my people? How noble of an heiress.”

Myria slipped between Asta’s feet, staring up at the Dimuran with bared teeth. The Ydran hissed and the animal took a couple of steps back, so as to not interfere, “But if you must know, my name is Asta. I’m a huntress and I haven’t been here long. In fact, I was on my way out - I’m looking for new work as my previous line wasn’t so… fruitful. Nor was it particularly fulfilling. Does this satisfying Her Highness?” She asked, clearly aiming more for sarcasm than cordiality.

Nymira’s teeth ground together slightly at the Ydran’s impudent behavior. She knew she had no hold here, her nobility meant nothing to these people and yet it wouldn’t kill the woman to act somewhat civil. “Accusing me of assaulting you? I simply had my weapons out, you could have approached me unarmed and we would have been on far better terms. Don’t try to play yourself the victim here.”

Asta, she couldn’t say she had ever heard that name. She would remember it now though, and particularly the sarcastic remarks the Ydran was so deadset on making. “Forgive me if I don’t appreciate your vague answers. A cloaked woman brandishing a weapon slinking through town, does that strike you as odd?” Nymira posed the question as she continued to inch forward, her eyes shifting down briefly to hold Myria in her gaze. “I have questions for you, Asta. I have no desire to waste my time fighting you, lower your weapon and let us speak civilly.”

“You were following me with a pair of blades drawn. I’ll not be so quick to forget that. I owe you no answers and the ones I’ve given you are far more than enough for you to know that attacking and pursuing me are tasks better left to more skilled professionals.” She set her expression more sternly, not budging from her point as the Dimuran inched forward again. “What strikes me as odd is that I have, standing before me, a self-proclaimed heiress who follows characters deemed shady by Her Holiness wherever she pleases. I was raised to never lower my weapon before my opponent does and, considering you were the pursuer, I would say that gives me more than enough right not to trust you by letting my guard down.”

“Forgive me if I do not chase hooded individuals blindly. I’ve a companion that would fit the bill, but he’s too busy to play village idiot for you right now.” If the quip about skill was meant to bait her into attacking then Asta was a fool, she wasn’t a child whose emotions were so easily stirred. Smiling when Asta called her out on trust the Dimuran let out a sigh, standing upright and shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know what your idea of a princess is, but I am not some helpless flower or naive woman. I know sometimes you must sully your hands to accomplish things, and if that involves dealing with a haughty Ydran…” Nymira took brief pause, raising her right arm in a swift arc with her dagger slicing through the air, aiming for Asta’s side, “Then so be it!” She had to find Amune, she hadn’t time to chatter with this woman. She’d deal with her, learn what she could, and move on.

Asta snarled, pivoting to allow the small blade to slice naught but air at her side. She took a large step away from the small Dimuran and slashed her falcata from the right with a flick of her wrist. “Chasing a hooded individual is what qualifies you as the idiot!” The woman exclaimed, eyes locked on her adversary.

Nymira’s eyes watched Asta’s arm for any slight movement, concerned mostly with the weapon the Ydran had. As soon as she saw the limb begin to move she raised her second dagger and swiped her left leg back, catching the falcata with the flat of her blade and preventing it from reaching her. “And fighting me makes you an even bigger fool.” Pushing both blades up she slipped beneath them, turning her body with her arm outstretched in an attempt to drive one blade into Asta’s lower back.

Asta grunted as her blade was stopped. This girl was fast, but that was to be expected considering the way she armed herself. The Ydran felt her blade give way as the heiress moved to slip inside of her guard and she moved with the same flow, spinning with the Dimura to evade her advance. As the two were locked in a moment of stalemate, Myria leapt into the fray, aiming to latch onto one of the girl’s legs.

Again Nymira’s blade only found air, and she had to admit she’d not expected the Ydran to be able to dodge that. So the woman wasn’t some common street thug then, it appeared as though she knew how to handle herself. Poised to take another swipe at Asta the Dimuran instead had to back off as Myria came after her, jumping to the side to avoid snapping jaws. To get a bit more distance between them Nymira jumped and kicked off the wall, spinning and perhaps to Asta’s surprise threw a small ball of fire at her feet, trying to ward off the animal with her with the flame. “I don’t appreciate having my time wasted, Asta. Stop this foolishness and answer my questions, I don’t have much patience for this right now.”

The Ydran took a step back as fire exploded at her feet. Fancy tricks and flowery names, this girl was still demanding information that the woman could not provide even if she had been given a question. “And you’ve yet to ask a single question, now who’s wasting whose time?” She retorted, “I don’t know what you think I’m guilty of, but I can guarantee you that if you don’t put your weapons down, I’m not going to be any help at all.”

“Forgive me if I don’t strike up conversation with a woman who swung her blade at me. And I think I’ll hold my weapons for now, I can’t say I exactly trust you,” Nymira shot back, frowning as she adjusted her stance, daggers crossed in a defensive style. On her leg she could feel warmth trickling down and into her shoe, a sign her wounds from before had reopened. Not unsurprising given her movements, it would make dodging in a battle rather uncomfortable. “I’m seeking out an Ydran child, she was taken by slavers. Answer me this much: Are you or are you not associated with them?”

“Forgive me for making an attempt to scare off somebody who had been in pursuit of me for no clear reason, nor had they made themselves known until they were already found out,” She retorted, taking a moment to catch her breath as the exchange of blows lulled again. The woman furrowed her brow, “Stealing a child? By the Saints, you think I’m a kidnapper?” She asked, absolutely astounded by the question, “Of course I’m not. My people quite often work alone or only with our own kind… What would I be doing if I was selling my own kind into slavery? Not the brightest of dragon-children, are you, Princess?” Asta asked venomously, not dropping her guard. She had to wonder briefly when she became such a cynical ass, though the thought quickly fled her mind.

“I know little of your people, and it’s not as though you told me anything before. As I said, a woman like yourself hardly paints the best picture,” Nymira quipped, sighing as she lowered her daggers, “I can see that speaking with you is a waste of time. If you know nothing then I’ve no quarrel with you.” Ignoring the name-calling again the Dimuran sheathed her blades in her belt, swiping her hand through the air to extinguish the small flames still burning in the corridor. She’d dawdled long enough here, she had to get back to work and find Amune. “Tell me, Asta… What is it you do then?” Nymira asked, frowning as she looked over the woman for an appraisal, “I sincerely doubt you run a stall here. Care to tell me?”

“No stall, no, I don’t live here. I’ve been working odd jobs since I left home several years ago. I hunt for skins and sell them, from time to time. Sometimes I work as a guide between towns, helping people get where they need to go with a little bit of protection and direction. I’ve spent some time in an arena, which is probably where I made my most steady, though hardest earned, money,” She answered truthfully, sheathing her blade after Nymira had put her own away. “Otherwise, I was just thinking of returning home.”

She paused for only a brief moment, running through what Nymira had said again, “Did you say an Ydran child was taken by slavers?” The woman rolled her shoulders slightly, shaking her head, “Is there anything I can do to help? It’s the least I can do, I suppose, after what happened here. Even if it’s not my fault,” Asta pointed out before finally adding, “Or anybody’s fault, for that matter. A simple miscommunication.”

A traveler then, and one willing to do whatever work came her way. Fighting in the arena would explain Asta’s combat ability and hunting would explain why she carried her weapon, and admittedly Nymira felt a bit daft for being so rash. “I see… Forgive me for being so quick to judge, it was my mistake,” the Dimuran said, placing her right hand over her left breast and taking a bow. Asta hadn’t done herself any favors until the explanation just now, and with that out of the way perhaps she could get back to the task at hand. Gritting her teeth as she began walking again, the wound on her leg throbbing dully, she paused when Asta made a surprising offer.

The woman nodded, “I understand. I wouldn’t trust me at a glance either, Miss Nymira.” As she was not a Dimuran, Asta did not feel inclined to return the bow, but rather acknowledged the other girl’s apology with sufficient forgiveness.

“You wish to help us? Why, you’ve no reason to do so…” She hadn’t met too many upstanding folks since arriving in the kingdom, having someone so selflessly offer assistance was highly unusual. She had no reason to doubt the woman and yet no reason to trust her either, she was an unknown and one which could end poorly if not careful.

The Ydra looked at Nymira skeptically, cocking an eyebrow in curiosity. “Would you not do the same were it a Dimuran child whom you have never met, abducted by a group of slavers who target children? It’s my duty to offer my services if they would be helpful in a situation such as this, I’m sure you would be in exactly the same boat. Besides, I would ask you as well - what reason have you for helping an Ydran child who has been taken by evil men?”

“That child is a companion of mine, and we’re to rescue her. And even were she not I cannot sit idly by as a child is stolen away. Those who would take and harm children are cowards and deserve punishment. If you wish to help then fine, I won’t stop you. I’ll pay you for your services when all's said and done.” Stepping past Asta to move out to the road again Nymira frowned when spotting Geoffrey at the end of the alleyway, sighing inwardly before approaching him. “Why, pray tell, are you here? You’re supposed to be looking for Amune, not chasing me,” she chastised, shaking her head before waving at him to move, “Forget it. Put that arrow away and move, we’ve got work to do still.”

-----

Now then, the woman had said down this alley… Right? Or was it the next one? How had he managed to screw up her directions so quickly? It didn’t matter much in the end he supposed, both appeared to go to the same street. Glancing back for the others he was a bit concerned when he didn’t spot anyone here, waiting at the mouth of the alley until Cecil and Zander finally showed up. Still no Nymira but she would fare fine on her own for now, there was too much a sense of urgency to wait for her to catch back up as well. With the others now in tow he hurried down the alley and onto a branching road, taking inventory briefly as he tried to get a sense of where to head next. “There’s no helping it, we’re going to have to ask around again,” Ethan muttered, sighing as he rubbed the side of his head, “It’s going to take so long though, but we don’t have any other choice. Unless either of you two have any ideas? Because going to be honest… I’m fresh out of them.”

[AlexStarsion]

Zander paused and for once seriously looked at Cecil. His eyes took in the boy's body, his sudden nervousness to answering the question and he let out a soft sigh. "The only person who really understood me is dead. My ... birther, saw fit to kill them when she realized they had filled my head with ideals said birther would never agree with. I've been called cold and unforgiving when I am not at a bedside with a patient." He shrugged off the emotion this brought to him and kept his eyes on the vendor's stall he was looking at. "I understand little of everyone, and yet understand enough to know when someone isn't being fully honest. Nymira's --" When Cecil said he couldn't see Ethan anymore, he cursed under his breath and let the subject go. "What I am TRYING to tell you, is that I may not be the BEST at understanding, I am good at looking at something and seeing what's there." Again he shrugged and looked around the area. "He's ahead of us again..."

He picked up his pace and didn't say a word after he spoke to Cecil. He wanted to tell the boy if he truly felt uncomfortable talking to Zander, he would listen either way. Geoffrey was so much better at this, and part of him saw his younger self in Cecil. The uncertainty in every action. The need to prove he, Zander, could be useful. He missed them dearly, but instead of getting into what needed uncovered he pushed his thoughts back into the back ground again. For now, it was for the better.

Tilting his head and looking at Ethan, "Someone must know something and noticed more than just a large brute running with a small child craddled in his crooked arms..." He wanted to punch something, hard. He fought back that urge and searched around. "Who would we ask? Someone must have..." He trailed off. "A base, somewhere to lay low long enough for them to pass off the cargo" he spat out the word. "To someone who would take it to the auctions. They killed their accomplice, for what? A larger sum of money? I feel like we're MISSING something here... Like a piece to this puzzle that we are staring at but cannot seem to grasp. The fact Wyth was drugged would mean they have done this before, they know their targets."

Zander paced back and forth, thinking out loud as he muttered, "Which means a concerned mother would have went to the guard... If we go to them ourselves, would it help? Perhaps we could learn where they have conducted searches, exclude those places and head to places most likely to have said scum living and ... other nasty things."

Geoffrey stood there, shocked watching the two trade blows that seemed to always cut the air. Twice he went for his bow, but stopped himself when he realized he wouldn't have a proper shot. Not without hitting Nymira and he was more than sure she'd flay him alive for the friendly fire. He wasn't close enough to fully hear what the two were arguing about, but from the few days he knew the Dimuran he could only guess she had found a lead on retrieving Amune. Moving quickly and quietly closer he froze in step when Nymira and her "prey" stopped their dance and seemed to be talking in less harsh tones. He was sure of it when the princess turned and saw him. He grinned when he caught the frown on her face. He outright laughed when she asked why he was there.

"If ya didn' realize," he said through his laugh. "If un' o' those brute's got Amune, with that Moor Cat at 'er side, I wasn' gonna chance nothin'." He put the arrow back into his quiver on his back and looked at the cloaked figure and nodded to them. Grin still in place, he turned to Astra and tilted his head to the side. Definitely Ydran, he nodded to her. "Geoffrey." He didn't hold out his hand to shake, but kept them loose at his sides. He kept an eye on the beast beside her. "Amune's gonna luv that' une..." He grinned and followed after Nymira, standing a pace behind her and tilted slightly to keep Astra in his sights. "Take it this one recruited you?" Still the boulders in his mouth talking plainly.

[Mogtaki]

Cecil could try and understand Zander as he started to ramble on about something called a ‘birther’, but he really didn’t know where to begin with that. What even did that mean he didn’t know, but it must had meant something if he felt the need to talk about it in relation to his inability to say just what was with him. “Uhh…a birther? What do they do?” He was certainly confused and didn’t understand the terminology at all, especially when it didn’t make much sense in context to the sentence or why he was telling him this. It sounded like some sort of job in relation to what he did, maybe, or maybe he was completely wrong about that too. Just what kind of occupation was that, anyway? It didn’t make much sense to him, but then again he barely knew what occupations were until he was told of a few as he was travelling.

Feeling more confused than he should had after that he frowned as he looked to Zander, feeling like he just made him angry by expressing concern over getting lost. He didn’t mean to make him mad, he was just worried that they would lose track and ultimately end up split away from each other some more. He didn’t know whether he should speak up again after that, he was just making people mad at him. Following after quietly he soon spotted Ethan as well, stomping on over to him at a hurried pace as if Ethan was ready to run off once again. He wanted to give Ethan an angry telling off after what he said last night about running off, but nobody would listen to him anyway.

This whole searching for Amuné was something he couldn’t be of much help with at all, he might as well had stayed behind for everyone to return. He didn’t know what smaller people had that was significant for bigger people to take away or what it was even called in the first place if it was possibly something that was uncommon. He just felt so confused by everything regarding it, especially when he saw no reason why an organic lifeform should be considered something you’d want to have, it wasn’t as if they could be reprogrammed or anything. Losing interest in what they were talking about simply because he didn’t understand it he instead slowly looked around, not feeling too sure about what he was supposed to be looking for when it came to strange people or possibly suspicious people. “What even is a mother…” he muttered in a sigh, feeling a little fed up, “This feels like a big waste of time. They’re probably in a building or something, maybe underground. Looking around where people are seems pointless”.

[shylarah]

The moorcat didn't object to Zander's pat, but neither did he solicit further attention. His girl was the important thing right now -- until he found her again, he wouldn't waste time with anything else. But the group didn't seem to have many ideas. The Dimuran woman suddenly split off, but Wyth stuck with Ethan. The young Muran was the one his girl liked best, and he'd been the one they'd known longest, though not by a large margin. The others were left behind, but eventually the odd boy and the man with the healing caught back up again. They were talking again. He didn't want to be talking, he wanted to be doing. Why did none of them have any idea where the bad man had taken his girl? He paced restlessly around the three, almost all of his strength back by then. When they /did/ find the one that took her, Wyth would be ready.

[Vena Sera]

Now was not a good time to be coming up empty, Ethan didn't know how to proceed with their search. They could keep asking around but that would take so long and time wasn't a luxury they had, not with this. "A base makes sense, but then we don't know Warren at all, I wouldn't even know where to begin looking. And Geoffrey ran off with Nymira..." Ethan muttered aloud, rubbing his chin as his brow knit together in thought, "It did seem like that now that I think about it, huh? They've definitely done something like this before. It would probably be best to ask about other disappearances then, see if anyone knows anything. If we can find some clues then we can figure out where they went. Or... We keep doing this and hope we get lucky." Either way it was going to take a lot more time than he'd like to spend on this, kidnappings were notoriously difficult the longer they went on. There had been one child in Kinsgrove that had been taken and wasn't seen for weeks, only to finally be found with some bandits nearby, he'd been lucky. Plenty of people died while in captivity and while Ethan was confident they would find Amuné he shuddered to think what she might be going through now.

Nymira didn't know what annoyed her more, the fact that her confrontation with Asta had been pointless or that Geoffrey had the gall to come after her. That was time wasted on her part and now she wasn't in any better position in finding Amuné, they had to find some kind of lead soon. Returning to the road she had left the Dimuran went in the direction of their friends, figuring there wasn't much chance they had gone far. "Yes I've recruited her, for this endeavor. I doubt she'll be accompanying us beyond Warren," she answered for Asta, "For the time being let's find the others, it's best we stay together rather than run off on our own chasing ghosts." Was that the proper phrase? She'd heard someone use it once and she assumed so, it sounded right. Failing to spot Ethan or Cecil, or anyone of their number for that matter she stopped dead in her tracks, letting out a sigh as she placed her hands on her hips. "Lovely, where did they run off to now? How does that moron expect us to work together when he does this?" Casting a gaze around to try and spot anyone they knew she clicked her tongue in disappointment, looking back at Geoffrey and arching an eyebrow. "Well? Have you any idea? You came in after me, surely you saw where they went?"

"Maybe, but we don't know where she is either, and if we waste time guessing then we're going to be in trouble trying to find her. We need to find someone who saw something that can help us." So far they only had vague directions and no real solid ideas, they were essentially bumbling about. "I guess we can go to the guard, but the only problem there is they'll want to know all about what's going on, and that takes time too. We need to be quick about this, every second we're spending trying to search is a second Amuné gets further and further away." This was frustrating and he really should know how to handle this, he'd spent enough time around professionals and heard enough stories to have some idea of what to do. Scratching at his head again he didn't notice the man in chain approach them, lost in trying to come up with his own solution.

"You there, kids! Hold a moment!" a guard called, approaching the group with a hand up to them, "You were at the scene of the murder and you left in quite a hurry. Mind telling me what you were doing there?"

Well so much for not speaking with the guards, they couldn't well run off and not answer the man. But then this might work out for them too, depending on what he knew. "We have a young girl traveling with us and we think those men took her," Ethan explained, seeing no reason to withhold anything from the man, "We wanted to try and find her ourselves so we took off after the one who grabbed her, but we don't know where to look." They were essentially trying to do their own investigation and that might not sit well with the guards, having some vigilantes running around might be a problem. Unsure of the man's reaction to his story Ethan smiled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "We uh... If you want us to answer questions we'll be more than happy to, but can it wait? We need to find her."

The guard seemed to be appraising the three before him in silence, his eyes shifting between everyone and Wyth before nodding his head. "I see no harm, you're not suspects anyways. In fact rumor has it a wild animal attacked the man and no one is sure where it went," he hinted, glancing briefly at Wyth before smiling slightly, "Truth be told we've been watching the man back there for a while, him and his companion. There have been reports of them sneaking around but without any solid evidence we can't do anything to them. This might be just what we need, and if you're giving us cause then we can act. Should I be telling you kids any of this though? These men may be dangerous, especially if they're kidnapping children."

"We're more capable than we look sir, and we need to do this, she's our friend," Ethan argued, smiling as he nodding towards Cecil and Zander, "We have more besides us, we know a thing or two about dealing with tricky situations. So please, if you're okay with it then let us handle this."

"I'll at least be accompanying you, I can't just send some children into trouble. I shouldn't even be doing this but if we can take care of these men and prevent future kidnappings then its worth it. I'll let you know everything we have on them including their suspected base of operations here, and if we find it then we can decide on the best course of action." The guard figured calling for back up would be the best option here, but if they could keep this small and not draw too much attention then just as well, they didn't want to cause a scene.

Nymira might well never have found the others were it not for Wyth sticking out like a sore thumb. When she noticed a guard speaking with everyone she grew somewhat apprehensive, yet noting the relatively relaxed manner of speech it didn't appear they were in trouble. "Is everything well? I apologize for running off, there was something I needed to look into," the Dimuran explained, looking at the guard inquisitively, "Is this about the scene, sir? I assure you that you'll have our cooperation, as soon as we take care of this matter."

"No need, your friend here has already explained everything to me, you'll have my support and others if need be," the guard answered with a raised hand, smiling as he spoke, "But do expect a question or two when it is over. Even if you're not suspects we'll need accounts of what happened, including whatever happens from here on out. Official business, you understand."

"Of course, we'll be happy to help!" But first Amuné was waiting for them, she took priority. There was something more he wanted to say as well though Ethan took pause, noticing the woman in the cloak behind Geoffrey, and the animal at her side as well. Well that was new, and if he had to guess by looking at the woman he'd say she was another Ydran. "Hi! I'm uh... Are you going to be helping us?" he asked confused, extending a hand for her to shake, "I'd introduce everyone but we're kind of in a hurry, so I'll just say thanks for helping out, miss...?"

[Scout]

The Ydra woman nodded, "Recruited, I suppose isn't an inappropriate word. Asta," She replied, giving her own name, "Well met." She left it at that. Geoffrey did not offer a hand, nor did she. Nymira then proceeded to point out that she was lost, but Asta did not say a word. The Dimura had come in after her - it was no surprise that she lost track of her own group. Honestly, had the woman shown up in greater numbers, Asta likely would have just evaded them rather than confront. It would be easier that way. "A moorcat, you said? Little girl has a pet? Makes sense... It's not uncommon for Ydra to grow up with some kind of animal companion... Though oftentimes they're connection is fleeting. Out here it can be less accepted, but if she's managed to connect with one, then that's excellent," She mused, clasping her hands behind her back as they walked. Her eyes cut through the street, though she knew not for whom Nymira was searching.

Finally, the company came across a group of... shockingly young-looking people and a Moorcat, Asta was quite visibly surprised. This was the 'Dimuran Princess's' so-called search party? They were out here looking for a kidnapped little girl and didn't employ the help of anybody with criminal expertise? She huffed and pinched the bridge of her nose. At least they had a guard, and now her, to assist. Hopefully the man had some kind of lead as to where the girl had been taken, because if not, this was going to be a long day. Asta subtly rolled her eyes as Nymira explained their situation - right, 'had to look into something' roughly translated from royal-speak to tail a strange woman down an alley and then get all fussy when the confrontation happened.

The Ydra nodded, "Asta will suffice," she replied curtly, pulling a glove from her hand to give his a shake. Her hands were cold, despite having been hidden in the glove, as most of her skin was quite often. "I'm sure that introductions can wait, I was told the missing girl in your company was one of my own. I couldn't in good conscience go anywhere without knowing she was in good hands, now could I?" She asked, her hand returning to the rough material of her glove as she wriggled her fingers to fit it snugly. The woman placed a hand on her hilt without threat, hooking her thumb between the grip and her side, the heel of her palm resting easily on it.

"If it's time to move on, I suggest we do so quickly, yes? These kinds of things are never... slow, are they?" She sucked the inside of her cheek and looked down to Myria, who stood dutifully at her side, sniffing at Ethan's ankle with a paw raised from the ground and intense curiosity. Asta looked down, "Hmph... She likes you," She stated matter-of-factly, nodding at Ethan before giving a sharp, but low whistle to call the cobra fox back. "It's okay, she's not particularly fond of attacking unless provoked anyway."

[shylarah]

((Short but...Wyth doesn't understand any of the chatter. =P))

A man had approached the group, and the party stopped again. Wyth's tail lashed. His girl was in trouble, and why wouldn't they hurry up and find her?! And then the Dimuran was back, and with someone new -- another Ydran. Was she going to help too? The cobra fox with her went right up to Ethan, and while Wyth didn't attack her, he moved to loom over her and show just enough fang to make it clear these were /his/ people, and he was protecting them.

[Vena Sera]

"Asta huh? Well nice to meet you, and thank you again for helping us. We really appreciate it!" The woman had no reason to do this other than the fact Amuné was one of her own, but then that was all the reason they needed. "Right, we should get moving as soon as we can, before they get too far away. Which means sir...? Do you know where their hideout is?" Ethan sure hoped so, otherwise they were wandering blindly for a little while longer.

The guard nodded his head before glancing around to get his bearings. "Let me see... They've been spotted about four streets over fairly often, coming and going from some unknown building there. We haven't quite singled out which one it is yet, but we know the general area. I'm sure if we went around and looked we'd stumble upon it." The guards had to have explicit permission from the mayor to do anything, but with these children outside of the man's command they were free to come and go as they pleased, and he would be there to make sure they didn't do anything drastic. "I should warn you though, there's been more than one man we've had reports of, several in fact. It could mean there's quite a few slavers waiting for us and I doubt they're going to hand over their cargo if we ask nicely."

"It won't be our first time dealing with some bad people, don't worry. Everything will turn out just fine," Ethan said confidently, smiling as he prepared himself to get moving along. When something cool and damp brushed against his ankle he jumped slightly and looked back, puzzled to see Asta's pet sniffing at him. Just what kind of animal was that? He'd never seen anything like it, and if he weren't so uncertain about it he'd probably give it a petting. "O-Oh, she won't attack me? Well then I guess it's a good thing she likes me!" he laughed, thanking his lucky stars he hadn't inadvertently done anything to earn the animal's ire.

"Yes yes, everyone loves you. Now if we're done could we get moving? We're wasting time, and if you know where to go," Nymira said as she looked to the guard, "We should get to work. Please, lead the way if you could."

"Of course." If they could successfully find these men then it would solve a huge string of crimes and kidnappings, a lot was riding on their victory today. Taking the children along with him he led them further up the road and over to the next, getting some strange looks from passerby and fellow guards alike; a Ydran woman, two animals, a Dimuran and two Muran boys, it was as motley a group as one could have. Fortunately no one would get in their way as they crossed street after street, at last reaching the neighborhood that should be housing their base of operations. Before bringing the group any further along he stopped at the mouth of the road and held up a hand to signal for them to stop.

"Before we go on I must make something perfectly clear to you all. I'm willing to help, but know that we are technically doing something illegal. If we succeed and we save your friend then I'm sure no one will mind. If things should go south though there's little I can do to get you out of trouble, I'll be in trouble as well but I accept that. If it means bringing these men in then I'm willing to risk my career for it. Are you still willing to go through with this, knowing all of that?"

That wasn't even a question, of course they were willing to do it. Amuné was in trouble and they had to rescue her, there was no backing out even if someone was having second thoughts. When no voices of dissent were heard Ethan inhaled silently through his nose before putting on a smile, nodding to the guard before looking past him down the road. So she was down there somewhere, in one of those buildings or another one nearby. He didn't care how many men might be waiting or who might be among them, they were going to save Amuné no matter what came up.

"It may be best we split up then into pairs, search the buildings and then report back to the others if you find something," Nymira spoke aloud, figuring that was their best course of action. She already had pairs in mind as well, and she doubted there would be any complaints. "Geoffrey and Zander, you two should work together, since you know each other so well. Ethan, why not work with the guard? Even if you find it I want to make sure you can actually find your way back to us. And take Wyth with you," she added, glancing at Cecil then before frowning, "And take Cecil as well, since you're unarmed. I'll work with Asta."

[AlexStarsion]

Zander tapped Geoffrey upside the head when they gathered again and smiled at the Muran. Geoffrey just smirked back, silent chatter going between the two. They both nodded at each other, message sent and received and both seemed to relax around one another again. Zander took the small silence between everyone was they headed towards the area running his hand down Wyth's fur one last time, checking to make sure nothing was still locked in his system. Stress he could feel easily, but that was a given with the events unfolding and quickly at that.

He cut a look towards Cecil and offered a strained smile, his eyes slid right off Asta and her Cobra Fox and decided for now he'd let it go. His own magic gave a slight whine inside his head sensing old wounds on the woman's body that wanted to be looked at and learn how they were made. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts of that he returned to the present when the group stopped.

Geoffrey nodded, agreeing to the decision to split up and cover more ground, "Ya sure ya wanna go wit' 'er m'lady?" Geoffrey grinned and grabbed the back of Zander's hoodie, dragging the slightly shorting Muran with him. "Listen for my grass whistle if we find anything, otherwise we'll come huntin' fer ya," Geoffrey called over his shoulder. Zander struggled half heartily and let out a sigh as he was pulled away from the group.

"The thistle whistle of yours," Zander was heard saying. "Is going to get us into trouble one of these days..."

Geoffrey ignored him, taking a corner and letting his hand fall from Zander's hoodie giving him a look over his shoulder, "Slavers in these parts... Kind o strange, ya? Didn' ya say sumthin 'bout ya fath'r--"

"I doubt it," Zander cut him off. "Come on, let's find the brat and get out of this town. I've got a sinking feeling about being here, I have a feeling it's going to get worse."

Geoffrey shrugged, stuffed his hands in his pockets and motioned for Zander to walk side by side with him as a few people looked out their curtained windows to see who was walking by. The street crowd was a lot thinner in this area and Geoffrey wasn't sure what to fully expect. The few times he had come this way was to deal with one of his Aunt's employee's who was in the gutter half drunk, half naked and red sores all over his body. It took little imagination to know his Aunt had probably turned said employee into the guard for something she planted on him.

Zander watched around them, pulling his staff from it's holster and using it as a walking stick. He'd follow quietly for once, seeing where the "guide" was going to take him. He noticed a few warehouses in this area, and fewer people as well and kept pace besides Geoffrey as they headed towards on to the far right, warehouse that is, taking a few back alleys and Geoffrey stopping him once by gripping his arm to keep him from stepping into the street.

Zander grumbled under his breath, "Daylight is a blessing... Stop tugging..."

[shylarah]

When she opened her eyes, Amuné had no idea where she was at first. She felt all fuzzy and her head hurt. There was someone leaning over her, their hair brilliant white in the poor lighting. “Daddy?” she asked, struggling to sit up. But her eyes found their focus, and it wasn’t her father, nor any of the Ydrans from his tribe. Her face fell, and the surge of relief she’d felt evaporated. “Who...where’s Wyth? Where’s Ethan?” The girl rubbed her eyes and looked around, trying to get her bearings, and what she saw wasn’t pleasant. The room was all but bare, dim and not very clean. She was in what seemed like a small cell, metal bars that bore traces of rust on two sides, and cold stone on the other two. A sudden chill made the girl shudder. There were a couple others in the cell, three women and two men, including the one that she’d mistaken for her father. All had the white hair and sharp features that marked Ydrans. Beyond the bars, the room wasn’t terribly big, though various boxes and pieces of furniture filled most of the space. There were several others there, most of them clustered around a table near the window, playing some sort of game.

“I’m sorry, child, but it seems they took you away from your folks.” The man spoke very quietly. “But it’s not the end yet. The Saints watch over us -- have faith.”
One of the women snorted. “The Saints have abandoned us,” she retorted, her voice angry. “There’s nothing--”
“Hush, both of you.” A second Ydran woman waved at them to be quiet. “You’ll attract their attention, and that’s never good. ...We’ll do what we can, alright sweetie?” Somehow she managed to smile at the girl, though fear was written on her features. Amuné nodded mutely and retreated to the far corner, pushing herself against where the two stone walls met. She was shaking, and dread was a hollow pit in her stomach, clawing at her heart and throat. Something terrible was pressing at her Sight, but she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block it out. She didn’t need to be told this was bad. No Wyth, no Ethan, no anybody. Just a few strange Ydrans that were just as badly off, and the awful fear that the nasty men had hurt the moorcat when they took her, that Wyth might be in just as much trouble, caged up somewhere worried about her, or left hurting, or--

No, she couldn’t think about that. Already her eyes stung with tears. She already had to find her mommy and daddy, she couldn’t bear it if Wyth went missing too. He would find Ethan, and they’d both come for her. She had to believe that. She had to.

[Mogtaki]

While Cecil was feeling fairly lost among all these strange terms, the arrival of another stranger with Nymira really threw him off. While it was a good thing that Nymira returned to them, he didn’t like how there was another stranger with another animal with them for now. Just who were they other than a name? He didn’t know and the fact that he now hadn’t said what he was to half the group was only starting to make him feel incredibly nervous. Why was she with them now? He didn’t really catch that part and was feeling a little lost and left out. He should be able to have a say in certain things too, but apparently there was little to say that he might come up with that would make a difference. Even Ethan didn’t really know, but then again he was happy with anyone who was friendly and didn’t have to worry about hiding an identity at all. Oh well, it wasn’t as if she was even going to acknowledge his existence, anyway.

Feeling left out could probably wait for now, he was supposed to be trying to find Amuné with the others and time was already short. There wasn’t really any clues other than the guards telling them where there was something spotted and if there was a chance that she might be somewhere there. If only he wasn’t such a useless Machina, he should’ve been able to find Amuné without much problem and yet there he was just tagging along waiting for somebody taller and more able to be able to see something. It made him feel pretty left out, to say the least. Machina were supposed to be useful, but here he was just tagging along all while the others made some headway without him. He definitely wasn’t feeling very good about being around, he was doing nothing helpful.

At least they had the guard telling them some information, maybe soon they could find Amuné and be on their way once more. She shouldn’t be too far gone, at least not at this stage otherwise the guards would’ve seen something by now. If somebody was going to move some people around that they had taken, taking them in the dark would had probably been ideal for them so at least they probably had that much time. Once everything was back to normal it wasn’t as if anything was going to change positively for him, anyway. He was still going to be a problem to have around and he was still not going to understand why Ethan thought he was worth keeping.

Keeping to the back of everyone else he moved around silently, or at least as silent as someone could move as metal against stone. It was a little hard to be sneaky when he didn’t have much in the way of padding on his feet. Upon arriving at their apparent suspicious place Cecil decided to have a look around, just seeing if anybody had followed them. He still had his reasons to be suspicious, that feeling wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. All his talk about illegal stuff wasn’t really relevant to him when he was probably illegal anyway, seeing how people reacted to him and wanted him destroyed. Groaning a little, he looked to the group before frowning right back at Nymira at the suggestion that he would make a suitable replacement for a weapon. That was a little hurtful, it almost seemed as if she forgot that he existed and had used that as an excuse. Frowning, he looked to Ethan and the guard, moving a little towards the pair to tell he was ready to get going.

[Vena Sera]

"Of course, it's the best course of action for us, "And grass whistle...? What do you.." Nymira let it go when Zander and Geoffrey left ahead of them, shrugging off the comment and looking at the others still left. "It appears Amuné should be in this area, so finding each other shouldn't be terribly hard. Try avoiding going in on your own, we don't know the strength of our enemy yet." Or if there were Magi with them. Prior to her journey she had been in the understanding that Magi were rare among people even in the more populous areas but somehow she'd managed to come across near every one it seemed.

Splitting up to search seemed like a fine idea, more eyes in more places meant finding Amuné faster. Having Cecil along for his group would be nice too, the guard wouldn't know what Amuné looked like even if he did see her. "You got it, no fighting until everyone's there," Ethan agreed with a nod, casting a glance in the direction of Zander and Geoffrey. They were already off but he figured they'd know as much, a bow and a staff probably weren't suited for taking on a bunch of armed slavers. Slapping Cecil on the back he grinned and gave him a thumbs up, ready to get started in earnest. "How about it then, let's go find her!"

"Don't do anything stupid, we don't need a second or third person to rescue," Nymira reiterated with a glare in Ethan's direction. Satisfied everyone knew what to do she sighed before motioning for Asta to follow her lead, leaving the rest to their own devices. Was it bad she could picture this going terribly wrong? She'd like to trust the ability of the others and their judgment, though Ethan's making friends with everything and Cecil's lack of knowledge on most matters troubled her. That wasn't even including Geoffrey and Zander, both who were largely unknowns still. And then there was Asta, a woman she had quite literally just met.

"I still do not understand why you're helping us," Nymira said bluntly while keeping her gaze forward, scanning nearby buildings for movement, "I understand Amuné is one of your people but you've no connection to her. I may have lied earlier when I said I'd do the same for one of my kind, why should I risk myself for a complete stranger? Just because we're of the same race?" Ethan had the same inclination to try and help wherever they could, it would be a damned miracle if no one died because of these jobs of his. It wasn't even like they were beneficial either as Nymira was still trying to meet with her first dignitary: the mayor would have counted if he hadn't come down with a sudden case of death. "If you're wondering why I wanted to keep you with me is because frankly I do not trust you, and I do not trust you with any of them."

Having an area to search instead of wandering was nice, it saved them the headache of trying to figure it out themselves. That being said it did little to alleviate Ethan's main problem: he still didn't know the area at all, hardly helping his lack of directional skills. Thankfully the guard had been sent along with his party just for that, and in retrospect now he understood why Nymira had grouped them up. Hardly a minute into their effort and he'd already been turned around once while almost leaving the area, acknowledging the favor with a bashful grin.

"She's got to be around here somewhere, it's killing me not knowing where though," Ethan said as he stopped at another building, wiping away grime and peering in through the windows. A rundown home with cobwebs over much of the furniture, no one was in there either. Stepping away from the glass he wiped off some smudge from his nose and looked to Cecil for some help. "Any ideas? I mean if there's more than one person then they'd have to have a big building, right? You can't cram a lot of people into a tiny house like this," Ethan mused, rubbing his head as he glanced back at the home again, "So... Maybe we should just look for big places?"

The guard glanced down at Wyth pacing nervously at their feet, assuming that this animal bust belong to the girl they were looking for. "Can he help us find the girl?" he asked, kneeling down and holding out a hand for Wyth to sniff, "I know moorcats don't usually track people but if he's the girl's pet then he'd recognize her scent, right? If we had some hounds this would be much easier..."

What were those bastards chattering about now? They were told to sit in the cell and be quiet so why were they talking? Grumbling incoherently a ragged looking man got out of his seat and took another hearty drink of his ale, belching as he approached the cell door. "Oi, shut yer traps in there, I can't relax with you lot yapping away," he shouted, banging his mug against the bars and spilling the liquor into the cell, "And quit your whining girl, you won't be in here forever. Nah, come morning we're grabbing ya'll and heading out of this town, gonna be selling you off to the highest bidder by this time tomorrow. So don't get too comfy, you'll be leaving soon!" Chortling with laughter he turned and went back to his seat, but not before leaning down to grab up a slip of paper that had come off the desk. If they looked close enough one of the Ydrans may notice a ring of keys on his back belt loop, shining dimly in the light of the lanterns before he sat back down. "Maybe if you're good I'll even get ya some water! Wouldn't that be a treat?"

[AlexStarsion]

Cobbled streets made the clogs Zander wore on his feet clack loudly. Sometimes he had wished he wore his robe from back at the temple to slightly muffle the sounds of them, but kimono bottoms didn't go well with a full fledged robe. Sighing slightly, he leaned against the stoned wall of a bulding, the mouth of the alley he was hiding in felt cool since little light reached the rougher stone and it felt wonderful on his minor headache. He was to keep an eye out for anyone coming and going that didn't look to be from this area.

A few people had stared at him as they passed the alleyway, as if sensing someone and gave curiously-guarded looks. He was still waiting for a few of the teens he had seen take off down the road to come back with guards, or other unsavory characters. Geoffrey had went to scout ahead, he had taken to rooftops that almost seemed to be upon each other; his way towards the warehouse and it's open second story windows for the taking. Zander had called him a thief in the making, and Geoffrey had laughed, pecked his cheek and was off whilst Zander had spluttered. His face was still hot from thinking about such an act in broad daylight. Deciding to keep his back to the wall, he lowered himself and brought out the inkwell and a few strips of paper. He dipped his finger into the well, and slowly started to draw a few symbols upon the yellowed parchment. He kept half an eye on his work and the other half on the mouth of the alleyway, nodding to an elderly woman who took her time going past. Keep the people focused on him and not on Geo.

Whilst Zander was making new seal papers, Geoffrey took to the rooftops with ease. He'd at least had practice at this doing it in his own hometown, and leaping in just the right way to keep out of sight from the people on the ground and to keep shingles from falling was really an art he wasnt ready to show to Zander. The warehouse was getting closer, he decided to see if there was a way in from the outside, crawl in find out what rats had hunkered down, and if they weren't the ones he was looking for he'd move on.

Getting two houses away from the warehouses loading area, he slide down the angled rooftop, gripping its edge to slow his fall, and used his booted feet to slide along the wall to only roll as he hit the ground to spread out his momentum even more. Checking his quiver strapped to his back, none of the arrows had broken from his side roll thankfully, and he took off at a light jog towards the courtyard. Windows were shut and curtains drawn to keep the workers that would usually be in and out of the warehouse from seeing the owners possessions made this job a little easier on himself.

He pressed himsefl firmly against the wooden wall, taking in a deep breath and tried to be as sneaky as possible to take a peak into a slightly dusty window. He was sure, if someone looked out now, they'd wonder what he was doing and call for the guard. He'd take his chances. Peering inside he let out a slight curse. Nothing. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, and moving away from the wall he headed to the bay doors and walked right in. A handful of boxes stacked off to the left side, no odd smells, save for the animal fat used in the recently burnt our candle, and not a single sign of anything being moved in a few days. He walked over to one of the boxes and gave it a hard kick. It didn't give out a hollow sound. Staring at it intently he brushed off the lightly layer of dust, and sighed at the insignia. He didn't recognize it, but still better safe than sorry.

Using one of his arrows, he used it as a wench to try to pry the lid off the box. Two snapped arrows later and a lot more swearing, he turned away from the boxes and headed back out of the warehouse. He took his time heading back to where he left Zander, cursing his luck.

"Ya'd think da idjoit woulda just made seals ta locate 'er..." he grumbled under his breath mapping out the area in his head. There was at least one more warehouse for them to check out and it would lead them closer to the group. They were running out of time.

[shylarah]

Wyth sniffed the offered hand, whiskers tilting forward, but quickly lost interest. Now was not the time for introductions. Now was the time for finding his girl. She had been taken, she was in danger. Had he been a person, he would lament the fact that moorcats hunted primarily by sight and sound, and wish for the nose of an animal more suited to tracking scents. As things stood, he was agitated because he did not have the means to find her on his own, and the people with him were being maddeningly slow about their part of the task. But the feline stopped suddenly as the soft sound of slow, heavy footsteps reached his ears. A breeze brought with it a scent he'd picked up before, sweat and lingering fear, and with it a faint trace of something dear. With a soft growl Wyth took off down the street. Not the first alley, nor the street on the other side, but the next corner, that was it! His tail swung out behind him as he made a sharp turn and charged out of sight. Moments later there was a scream of pain, followed by a furious growl.

The bearded man was miserable. With the young halfbreed taken in, his position was secure, at least for the moment, but her accursed animal had put up a terrible fight, and then when they'd tried to just run for it when it was mostly down, the beast had somehow found the energy to leap after his brother and bring the younger man down. He was lucky he'd escaped with just a set of shallow slices himself. So he found the company of the others annoying and had wandered off to be alone with his bottle of liquor, which he'd already put a good dent in.

He was not so drunk that he didn't try to flee at the sight of the very monster he'd barely escaped from barreling toward him, but the cat was faster. He couldn't help it; when the animal swatted him across the back with a heavy paw, leaving another set of deep gashes and knocked him to the ground, he screamed in agony. The reply was a dreadful snarl and far too many large teeth right next to his ear. The man struggled to get back up again and managed to find his feet, only to find himself stumbling into the wall with the force of the cat's next blow, which laid open his leg from hip to calf. When he tried to put weight on it, the leg collapsed.

When Ethan, Cecil, and the guard caught up to Wyth, the furious moorcat was gathering himself for another attack. The man had hurt him, had hurt and frightened his girl, and had taken her away. This made the man a threat and a dangerous predator, and Wyth intended to kill him.