---

---

Ria backed up a step when the older dragonslayer woke up with a start. She tried to not laugh, but the squashed bit of amusement still painted on her face with a smile. It wasn't so much that he'd been startled, but the paper stuck to his face that she wanted to laugh at. "Yup, just little me. Didn't mean to startle you." She did let out a quick laugh at his comment about making himself presentable though. "Yeah, you may want to wash the ink stain off your face. Right...there," she said as she motioned to the bit that had imprinted onto his face. Her smile brightened a hair as she put her hand up and headed for the door. "I'll be sure to let her know."

Closing the door behind her to leave the guildmaster his privacy again, she jogged back off toward the main room to meet up with her team again. Serena was offering up a drink, but hey - what was a few more minutes? She still needed Will to brainstorm up a plan. "Great! Now the whole team is here! We just need to figure out how we're going to go about this. Serena didn't seem to think it was a good idea for me to just jump in the water and deal with her - and I hadn't even told her that was my first plan," she said with a pouty look toward the mage behind the counter. Of course, Serena was a wizard and psychic (it clearly had nothing to do with the fact it was a pretty standard dragon slayer tactic that the woman was well versed in by now) so she always could predict Ria's plans. It wasn't going to put her off from trying to brainstorm more. The ensuing headache from that act would.

"Oh! And Serena," she started as she turned her attention to the woman. "Master Aiden said he would be out once he made himself presentable."

Just like that, her attention focused back on her companions. "So yeah. I still think the easiest way is for me to just lure Bessie out of the bay and figure out some way to intensify - " she paused, looking at the ground as she tried to figure out the right word she wanted there. It was a pretty smart sounding word... "Intigrate...En-centralize...Ugh." She sighed, shaking her head before looking back at Will. "Figure out a way to make her want to stay with her mama instead of come back into the bay. Without killing her" she said the last part with a stern look tossed over her shoulder at Cade.

"So, got any ideas?" She split her attention between the two as her smile came back, and her cheery tone returned. "Otherwise we're going with plan Slayer and you two can figure out the details as we go."

---

---

There was once a time when Kim would at least attempt to slog through his morning classes before ditching school to hang out around the Winter’s Blade guild hall. For the last few months the young boy had been a regular visitor - practically an unofficial member. These days he’d been making a bee-line straight for the Guild the second he left home. He was still dressed in his uniform; grey trousers, white button up shirt with a navy blue sweater. A grey blazer embroidered with the school crest sat in a messy heap on the bench next to him. Seated close to the fireplace, Kim had his books sprawled out in front of him in a vain attempt to get some actual schoolwork done. A hard task to accomplish when one stops attending their classes. He worried his sloppiness would draw the attention of the ever present Serena - who he had assured several times that he was most definitely allowed to be gallivanting around with a bunch of wizards. He wasn’t sure if she actually believed him or was simply far too busy to worry about some random kid.

The ruckass caused by his guildmates in the bitter cold of a White Harbour morning confirmed it was the latter.

In the short time Kim had been present there had already been several drunken brawls, Bjorn received a well deserved armbar for some inappropriate misconduct and Arc delivered some loud announcement about a missing kid. Whitecliffe. The name was familiar. Kim wondered if he knew someone at school with that name. It was highly likely - White Harbour didn’t have a large selection of schools. Either way, he hoped the kid was found soon. Wait, why was Arc posing? He spied the Sorcerer’s Weekly reporter talking with Nia, catching the tail end of Serena’s lecture about all the good a bit of media exposure would do for the Guild.

“You sure she doesn’t secretly work for the asylum? She could be looking to commit a few of you.” He shot a cheeky grin towards Arc. It quickly turned to a look of complete and utter dread when the doors to the guild opened once more and a sickeningly cheerful, and all too familiar, voice chirped at Serena.

“A fine mornin’ to you Winter’s Blade!” Mrs Bloomenburg was the wife of a local fisherman. Short and stout, with her mess of wiry, greying hair tied back into a tight bun and secured with a hairnet. Her face was plump and ever a bright shade of pink. She wore a stained smock over a worn out blouse and ankle length skirt that would please the most devout of nuns with its modesty. In her arm was a wicker basket filled with several jars containing what appeared to be fish heads. Yuck.

Mrs Bloomenburg also happened to be one of Kim’s father’s clients at the law firm, and a renowned gossip among the townsfolk. Nothing ever happened in White Harbour without passing through her ears.

“Serena, love!” Kim nearly smacked his chin into the table with the speed he ducked down, quickly lifting one of his open textbooks to cover his face. Mrs Bloomenburg hustled her way through the guild hall towards Serena, getting uncomfortably close to Kim’s position.
“I brought over a few pints of my famous pickled herring. A little thanks to you and yours for your help with my hubby’s catch last mon-” Her praise was cut short when she noticed a familiar mop of bright pink hair jutting out from behind an upside down trigonometry book. There were only two people in White Harbour that boasted such a hair colour. Mrs Bloomenburg couldn’t help but deduce that if Nia Clavis was standing nearby talking to some lady she didn’t recognise, then this other head of pink hair must belong to -

“Kim Lien! Is that you dear boy?” Kim sighed deeply, slowly lowering the book before shooting the hag his politest smile.
“W-what brings you here Mrs Bloomenburg?”
“Why, I could ask you the same thing.” The fisherman’s wife's forced smile pierced the very depths of Kim’s soul, sending an eerie shiver up his spine. This did not bode well. She eyed the boy up and down before her attention shifted to the grey blazer bundled up beside him.
“Oh, I didn’t realise you attended Whitehill Academy.” A blatant lie. There was only one school in White Harbour. Where else would he attend? “Well, you couldn’t possibly have finished your classes this early now, could you?”

Kim was practically squirming under her knowing gaze. Somehow, amidst the freezing climate of White Harbour, a bead of sweat ran down his temple.
“I uh, well, there were um.” He coughed into his fist. “Parent interviews!” His declaration practically echoed through the hall.
“Parent interviews?” Mrs Bloomenburg repeated coyly.
“Yeah, well, teachers gotta discuss shi- I mean stuff with the parents. School was cancelled today. I’m such a dolt I didn’t remember so I uh, got dressed and headed there only to be turned away.” Kim clicked his tongue and shook his head in feigned disappointment of a missed day of quality learning. Mrs Bloomenburg’s eerie smile persisted.

“Well now that’s strange. I have a son around your age who attends Whitehill Academy and I never received notice of any parent interviews.”
“Shit.” Kim cursed under his breath.
“Come again?” Mrs Bloomenburg grew more smug with each passing second.
“I… uh. Shit.” He was much clearer this time. Mrs Bloomenburg’s carefully crafted visage fell for a moment, allowing a brief scowl to show for only a moment before she regained her composure.
“Well,” She forced another smile, patting off her apron before turning back to Serena. “Well, well, well.”

Mrs Bloomenburg walked up to the bar before gently laying the wicker basket of the putrid pickled herring in front of Serena.
“Lovely to see you as always, dear.” She didn’t afford her even a moment to return the courtesy - for she was now making her exit from the guild hall at a brisk pace that was nothing if not determined. Kim couldn’t stand to watch her eagerly prance away with the forbidden fruit of White Harbour gossip for the day. Instead, he opted to drearily slide his face into the palm of his hands, lowering his head back down to the table with a defeated groan.
“I am so screwed."

"Is that what that was?" Arc slung the wet wash rag over his shoulder. He wasn't wearing a cape this time; it would have gotten dirty while he was handling cleaning materials, and that wouldn't have been good in the slightest. "Sorry about that! I didn't really see it properly, so I thought it was something like this."

He flexed again. Someone in the tavern tossed coins at him.

"Thank you!" he called out to the mystery donor(s). The mage crouched down to quickly gather up currency before it could be trampled or kicked aside. Being paid for such simple work had bothered him long before, but his time with Winter's Blade made him realize such tips were a fact of life. For him, at least. Apparently this didn't happen to other people for some reason. It was definitely a strange phenomena, but not any weirder than some of the other things that went on in this hall.

"I guess folks really appreciate clean tables, huh?" Arcturus commented offhandedly. He placed the coins one by one into another small sack, and underhand tossed it to the bar counter where Serena and some of the others were. Then, with a dramatic flourish and a flash, his iconic blue cape returned to its rightful place on his shoulders. He was now ready to address his companions for this mission. "I'm glad to see we've got a posse going," the de-facto party leader said. He pressed a hand to the guild mark on his breastplate and smiled. "I'm sure if Mrs. Whitecliff were here now, she'd be..."

He pondered that thought.

"...She'd probably still be pretty sad actually," Arcturus decided. He had dropped his smile at this point; he would've been sad if his hypothetical kid went missing. "But I'm sure she'd be relieved to know there are people willing to help. I've talked to her already, so I'll explain when we hit the woods on the east side of town. Let's go!"

Arcturus began to lead his group through the exit of the guild and the city of White Harbor, and to the site of a forest on the outskirts of town. Although once he was confident his teammates understood the direction they were headed, he fell back into step with the unidentified reporter.

"Sorry about that," he apologized, "I would've introduced myself more properly earlier, but we're kinda in a rush, so I didn't want to dwell on ceremony for too long. I'm Arcturus, most people call me Arc, though."

@j8cob@Raijinslayer@Sanguine Rose

---

“Oh looks like I’m the late one” William said with a small chuckle choosing to ignore the girls slightly sullenee mood. Serena also mentioned word of an interview which made sense as to why sorcerer weekly was here. The boy took another glance of the guild and sunk a bit into his clothing as most of the model members are off doing jobs somewhere. At least Arcturus was here right? The boy shook his head, befuddled that the thought had even processed. Let’s just pray Serena can keep everything under control.

Will then noticed Cade sizing sizing him and in which he didn’t pay to much mind to. The guy then spoke up questioning William ability to hold his own if he were to end up in the water with the Bessie. He had a good point as the boys most powerful spells were off limits when outside of dry land. Alas he was determined not to be a burden to Ria and Cade.

“If I am to be of use then that is a risk I will have to take, i can’t promise 100% that my contingency plan will work but I gave Ria my word that I’ll assist her and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.” William said without skipping a beat.

Serena then offered them a drink but William kindly put his hand up in refusal, “I appreciate the kind gesture but no thanks Serena” he said with a friendly smile. Soon enough Ria came back from the small task that Ria had lent her in which Will greeted her with a grin. The boy then scratched his head at the girls outfit as she seemed to be a bit underdressed for the occasion...or were William and Cade overdressed? Perhaps she had something up her sleeve he had hoped. She asked the group what the plan would be in which William placed his hand on his chin. Ria proposed the idea of going toe to toe in the ring with Bessie right off the back but he would like to at least think of another option before resorting to giving Bessie a beat down. "I agree with Ria, I would like to devise a plan that allows us to resolve the issue without hurting Bessie." The boy said a bit stumped on a solution, "Well lets not waste anymore time and head to the harbor, we can think up a plan on the way. Might I ask what exactly is Bessie?"

---

Oh great, if he goes in the water he'll be useless, Cade thought to himself with a sigh, leaning against the bar now and propping his head up with one arm. He glanced back towards Serena after she offered a drink to the two, which Will declined leaving it free for the taking. "Don't mind if I do." He didn't even know what kind of drink it was, but free is free. While he never responded to her last remarks about Arc, he certainly didn't ignore them. He just knew better than to explain himself, as she clearly was fooled by the act and there was no reason to ruin that for her. Yet. As Cade took his first sip his other comrade returned in seemingly as good a mood as when she left.

They began talking about devising a plan. "Bessie is just an animal," Cade began, taking a pause to sip on his drink once more. It was actually pretty good. "It's only gonna be motivated to leave by one of the three F's. Food, fear, or... you get the idea." He wasn't sure how well these people would take to cursing just yet so he stopped himself. No need to make them dislike him more than they surely will already. "If food was gonna make her leave she would've by now, same thing if there was a mate for her somewhere in the ocean. So she isn't gonna leave unless we scare her away and I highly doubt she'll book it and run when Ria waves her arms at her and makes loud noises..."

"No matter how you cut it, we're gonna have to inflict enough pain on her to make her realize that if she stays here she will die. That'll get her to leave." He took another pause to enjoy his drink further, making sure to gauge how Will and Ria reacted to this information. "Since Ria's gonna be in her element in the water, she needs to get Bessie's attention and draw her closer to the surface of the water so that Will can assist if need be. If a few of those Dragon Slayer arts aren't enough to convince her to leave then between Will bashing her and me shooting her too I'm sure we could turn her into a fillet so she'll have to leave." Now he gave a look back to Serena, to gauge her reactions as well. After all she was the one who seemed the most invested in Bessie being unharmed. After reading her expression he looked back to Will and Ria. "I can step outside the front door and hit Bessie from here, so I won't need to get out on the water. That means the only one in any real danger might be Will if she were to try and attack him, meaning Ria will need to keep her attention for us if she can't hurt Bessie enough on her own and just let Will and I do the damage."

Cade now looked down at his drink. It was already nearly empty. That's weird, I thought I only took a few sips. Am I becoming an alcoholic too? he wondered briefly as he gently shook the glass. This pause also served as a good opportunity for the team to process his plan. Or perhaps come to terms with the truth and give up on the pacifist idea. "And don't worry, we won't kill her. No animal will sit there and try to die. Most predators will flee upon taking a single injury, because for them that means it could be death and they aren't going to take risks like us humans might. Its just on the off-chance that a hard punch from Ria doesn't do the trick that we should respond in an appropriate display of force to make her leave quickly so we can get on with our day and get some food to eat." With his idea neatly wrapped up he then took one final swig of his drink, making sure to set it gently on the counter within Serena's reach so she could easily take the glass for cleaning. Cade had a feeling that these two weren't going to like how he put it, but he knew it was the best way. "Sound good, yeah?"

---

---

Ria was up for leaving to discuss the plan on the way when Cade offered up his opinion. She figured he was ready to leave, but he’d accepted the drink Serena was offering. No harm in waiting a few more minutes. It wasn’t like Bessie hadn’t been living there for a few weeks. Another few minutes wouldn’t hurt if it meant having more of a plan before getting to the shore.

She hadn’t thought of hurting the poor thing. It wasn’t Bessie’s fault she was in the bay. It was where the food was, and she could fit. Her mama went to deeper waters, and she went closer to the shore. Her cheerful look soured at the suggestion they turn her into a fillet. “We don’t need to hurt her to get her to leave,” she said, dead certain.

“In the end, we’re all animals - predators even. I was taught most things respond best to a firm but gentle hand. You go in there aiming to hurt, a predator is going to push back. Prey learn to run, predators learn to attack. We go trying to bully her out, she'll fight to keep her territory. That’s instinct." Drawing in a small breath, she closed her eyes for a second before opening them and bringing back a bit of her cheerful tone and smile. “Bessie and I aren’t much different in what we learned to survive. Means we’re better off trying to go easy, nice. She came in the bay looking for food, and she’s staying ‘cause it’s here and hasn't moved on. We just need to show her there’s more elsewhere. She's just overstayed her welcome this year is all.

"But...If you're looking for an early lunch, you're welcome to stay here, and Will and I can handle her. We'll just split it between us." She grinned teasingly as she motioned between her and Will. "I took the job because it's something I know. I asked you guys to help because I like hanging with you. But something else I've been taught is you can't rush a job or it just leaves a mess to fix. If it takes a few hours to get her moving, then that's what it takes." She didn't think it would take longer than that, though. In her head the job was simpler than Serena made it sound, and didn't need to involve hurting Bessie like Cade suggested. Piece of cake.

She turned to head for the door before stopping with a foot half raised to walk. A brighter, but somewhat sheepish grin spread on her face before she laughed and rubbed the back of her head. She turned back to her companions. "Oh yeah. I almost forgot. Can't go out like this." She set her feet and made the motions with her hands to summon up the right spell. Magic circles appeared under the three of them, then she finished the motions and thrust her hands above her head. "Resilience!" Both the boys would feel less cold - granted an immunity to the chill environment - and perhaps feel a bit of a bolster to their magical energy. Ria never felt the effects of the last bit, but it certainly wasn't the first time anyone would have seen her cast that spell before taking a dip into the harbor.

"Okay. Now we're ready! Let's go!"

Bludmach: Outskirts

---

---

Klaus’ maneuver proved more than enough to protect the Marsh runner from a grisly fate, though the surge of muck that followed his ghostly vessel launching itself forward from below did send him flying once more with a very audible scream. To his credit, the man did manage to act on Klaus’s words as he soared, tucking himself into a ball-shape so as to minimize both exposure and impact damage if he did make an impact with the ground.

The black beast, however, would find itself getting properly keel-hauled as the ethereal vessel ran aground on top of it with a rather nasty crunch. The ship would slide forward a few feet before coming to a halt, the short burst of excitement quickly falling into silence as nothing seemed to happen in the wake of the ambush.

Was it dead?
@Asura@OwO@Severance

---

---

Clara

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Arc,” Clara said, though somewhat distracted by the slight commotion going on back at the guildhall. It seemed like someone had gotten into a fair spot of trouble with their. . . Aunt? The reporter couldn’t quite tell but pushed the event out of her mind, for now, and focusing her attention on the small group that seemed to have formed around her. “So, if we’ve got nothing to talk about while we walk. . . how about a little impromptu interview? No hard questions, I promise, but now that I don’t have to worry about that Serena hovering over me, I feel a bit more free to ask a few.”

“For example. . . how did all of you come to join Winter’s Blade? Most of you don’t seem like Harborites. . . at least, not to me.”
@Inkarnate@Grey@Hero@KiwiTime

“Well now, looks like the lot of you have a proper plan going.”Serena chuckled, taking the glass back from Cade with a nod. At Ria’s little speech, her smile tapered off a bit, but only for a moment before she continued speaking. “Now then, since the reporter has gone and run off with Nia and Star boy, I guess I’m going to have to tell Aiden he can st-”

Before she could finish her sentence, the doors to the Guild Master’s office blew open with a burst of frigid air that coursed through the whole of the guildhall and giving everyone, even the newly protected party, a bit of a shiver. That was not all the came, however, as the gust was followed by a squad of flying shapes that darted and swooped around the hall to spread a faint dusting of glistening ice particles to fall gently through the air like a rain of sparkles(to the delight of children in the hall and the mumbled groan of a few adults as they hugged their coats tighter). The flying shapes would land, one after another, on the banister before the guild master’s office, revealing themselves to be rather immaculately carved dynamic Ice-Make sculptures of Falcons as Aiden made his entrance. Dressed in a large fur white fur coat that melded with his own mane of white locks so well it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began, with some rather fine clothes presented underneath, he nearly looked the part of a regal guild master.

Almost. . . if not for the child-like grin that broke his face apart as he set one foot on the railing, whipping a hand out in greeting as he made prepared himself to make an announcement.

“Peeeeeople of Winter’s Blade!! I would like you all to wel-”

“She’s gone.” You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed Serena’s statement as Aiden hung there, mid-pose.

“She’s . . . huh?”

“She’s gone. Left to follow a request with Arc, Nia, and a few others. . . I think I might’ve scared her off, not gunna lie.”

An audible groan followed shortly after Serena’s statement as the guild master let his arm drop limply to his side, blowing a stray strand of hair from his face.

“Well. . . at least she’s in good company. I trust that whoever she’s with will give her a great impression of us.” With a slight shake of his head and a light tap to the cheek, Aiden regained his good mood and continued his momentum. With a strange level of grace for the towering man, he flipped over the railing as his Ice-make creations took flight behind him, each one moving to just where he’s about to land before he gets there to act as another jumping-off point as he traversed across the breadth of the hall in a matter of moments before finally landing down at his destination: right beside Kim to watch Mrs. Bloomberg make her exit.

“Which means I can take a moment to ask what seems to be the problem between you and Mrs. Bloomberg?” He knelt down beside the boy, taking a look towards the door, then Serena before settling back to Kim with an almost expectant glance. “Something you want to tell me?”
@Sanguine Rose@j8cob@pkken@Leslie Hall

---

---

Yes, it certainly did sound like they had a plan. Ria’s problem wasn’t just coming up with a plan, it was sticking to it. If they had a communication lacrima so Cade could keep watch from the shore and tell Will and maybe she’d hear it one of the times she surfaced. She was pretty sure she wasn’t going to be staying under the entire time, but she certainly wasn’t going to be able to hold onto a communication lacrima and deal with Bessie.

The blast of frigid air that proceeded their guildmaster’s grand entrance hit like a punch in the chest. She could stand outside without her spell cast for a decent amount of time in what she was wearing before she’d really feel the chill, but that was the natural environment. The Ice-Maker magic Aiden used put White Harbor’s frigid gusts to shame. A shiver ran down her spine, but a smile spread on Ria’s face all the same watching the display of his maker-magic.

“Okay, let’s go,” she laughed as Serena broke the news to Aiden - that the interview was off. They had more important things to do than delay starting their job. “As you said before, the sooner we start - the sooner we might be able to finish and get something to eat.”

Ria didn’t mind the questioning - and sometimes criticizing - glances she got walking down to the docks. She was used to the judgemental looks when she headed out for a swim. The cold didn’t bother her until the spell wore off, and generally by then she was already on her way back to the guildhall. That’s what she figured would happen again this time. She never really timed how long it took for her spell to wear off, but she figured they had plenty of time, especially since she was going to be out in her element.

“So, Cade, you’re staying on the docks, right? I’ll be counting on you to help try to keep an eye on how things are going. I know the split between the bay and deeper waters below water, but I won’t be able to tell how far I’m getting her out if we stay close to the surface. Will, if you’re coming out with me, did you already secure a boat?” She looked at him. “Or were you planning on swimming too?”

It was out of the frying pan and into the fire or so it seemed. There wasn’t but a moment of reprieve for Kvasir nor his comrades when the wagon was once again launched ass if it were made of paper mache. Before the wagon was launched and he had been laughing at the talking dog a shiver passed through him as the hairs on his neck stood on end. It wasn’t the swamp causing the problems this time, it was something else or rather someone else.

His instincts reacted faster than his mind like always. Using the momentum in which the wagon was tumbling, Kvasir propelled himself off the wagon and towards the direction of the beast instead of backing away. Klaus had a similar plan but instead sent his ghoulish ships to bombard the strange figure. Hopefully the cannon fire and sheer size of the ship would cloak Kvasir’s body as he rocketed towards the fiend.

It was all for not however since Klaus’ attack seemed sufficient enough to put down the creature. Kvasir never trusted one attack to fully euthanize an enemy. To ensure he was dead, Kvasir landed viciously onto the ground beside the creature before raising his foot to bring it down aiming to curb stomp the creatures head.

"oh no what happened to the creature is it dead"

Bludmach: Outskirts

---

---

As things seemed to settle into quiet. All that could be heard between the 4 was the gurgling of swamp gas and the ethereal creak of Klaus’ spiritual vessel sinking into the displaced muck of the marsh. As Kvasir stomped over to the finish of the creature, however, he’d find nothing but a few small red beads that seemed to have adorned the monster, cracked from the force of the impact.

Malon, lifting himself up with a pained groan as he did his best to get the most of the caustic gunk off of any exposed part of himself as he could with a gloved hand, looked around with a rather nervous energy.

“Hey, uh. . . Mr. Wolfman? Can that ship of yours fly by any chance? I don’t think the cart is going to be in proper shape af-GACK.” The soft-spoken Marsh Runners' words were cut off as a black tendril wrapped itself around his neck and slammed his head down onto the ground with a hard thud. His body went limp as from beneath him, the creature rose, though it’s figure was more. . .transparent than it had before. For Kvasir and Klaus, however, very little time would be afforded to ponder such things, as a sudden pressure around their ankles was all the warning they’d get before their legs were ripped out from underneath them, two more figures rising above them. Amorphous blobs of transparent mist and shadows with a pulsating red core at their center, the surprise attack would be followed by even more tendrils coiling around the two men in an attempt to push them into the caustic muck.

The most solid one, however, did not seem intent on staying. With a swiftness, it gathered up the limp body of Malon and started to fly across the Marsh in a jet of inky blackness, aiming to leave with the Runner rather than continue the fight.
@Asura@Severance@OwO

---

---

As Serena gives a wave to see you on your quest, the three of you make your way to the docks. The sounds of waves breaking against the dock supports are nearly masked by the hustle and bustle of the excited fisherman looking eagerly towards the water and busy dock workers moving to and fro.

The reasoning for this excitement was quick to show itself, however, as from the depths of the bay a rather large creature sprung forth from the water jaws snapping at something overhead before it fell back into the waves. Waves that now rushed towards the dock, building up into some rather massive crests as they surged forth. However, before they could even get close, an array of runic sigils would pop up a little distance away from the docs, holding the massive surge of water back. If they looked, the group would see that on little rowboats not to far away from the barrier were a few men holding out there hands, likely the ones maintaining the barrier.

One such rowboat was pulling up to dock now, carrying in a rather exhausted looking young man who barely seemed to manage enough strength to tie his boat to the supports.

@Sanguine Rose@j8cob@pkken

@j8cob@Raijinslayer@Sanguine Rose

---

William chuckled quietly, unable to take humor within the conflicting views in front of him. As much blunt as Cade put it he had a point, Bessie most likely wasn’t going to go down without a fight. He responded to his question stating that Bessie was an animal which William already knew, his question pertained more so to what animal is she. The boy sighed, [color=fff79a][i] I guess I’ll find out shortly[/][/color]

Suddenly a chill causes him to twitch as he felt his nerves whine. “Ugh” the boy groaned. Before facing his teammates, “I’m ready to go, I’d rather deal with the temperature outside of here.”

The group made their way to the docks in which they were receiving rather strange looks because of Ria’s outfit in which William just shook his head in response. Ria then bought up whether or not the boy secured a bot in which he nodded, “I’m going to go out with you but If I had a choice I’d rather not go for a swim, I spoke to someone yesterday and they said they would procure a boat for me but not expect anything fancy. But before we go into the water.” William extended his arm out and clenched his fist tightly, “Crystal Magic: Magic tracking Crystal” the boy then opened his fist and there was a crystal ring sitting within his palm.

“Here Ria, I figured since we don’t have a communication lacrima, this is the next best thing. I’ll be able to keep tabs on your location and how deep in the water, put it on one of your fingers and it will adjust its size accordingly.” Within the distance William saw a rather large creature emerge from the ocean before crashing back into it. Automatically he assumed he was Bessie in which he groaned as he saw the waves began to build up aggrssively before soaking into a magic barrier. From there he took notice of a straggler boat making his way to the docks and upon arrival seemed like he was ready to collapse. William was unsure if whether or not this was the boat that he was to recieve,

“you alright over there?”

---

The negative response from Ria brought a frown to Cade's previous smirk. He knew that Ria was more of a gentle soul type but he didn't expect her to empathize with an overgrown fish like this. Its just a dumb beast after all and his willingness to not outright slay it was already the limit of his patience with monsters. She won't hang around with a few extra holes in her, he lamented to himself as Ria explained her plan to the boys. But fine. I'll keep trying to play nice and go along with it. If that thing is about to hurt one of them I will put it down for good though... Cade let out a sigh, and with it he refreshed his motivation to keep the peace and attempt pacifism.

"Nah, nah, I'm not gonna bail out for a job like this," he spoke up at Ria's taunt, waving his hand dismissively at the idea. Ria cast her Resilience spell just in the nick of time, as the guild master Aiden made a freezing grand entrance. Even with the improved protection against the cold it was a bit frosty in the hall. Cade couldn't help but smirk at her resourcefulness when it came to handling her environment. He knew from experience that versatility and resourcefulness were the most potent weapons a person could have, short of being insanely gifted and powerful. An ally that can actually assist is an ally worth keeping. "Yeah let's get it over with before it gets colder in here than out there." The trio left the guild hall with haste, making it to the docks in what felt like no time at all.

And what good timing they had! Bessie was just surfacing further out in the water as the small crew stepped out onto the docks. It served as a good reminder for Caderyn just how big she was but he didn't feel the least bit intimidated. In fact a terrible grin began to form as Cade watched the waves crash against the magical barrier. "Yeah, I'll keep an eye on her alright." Impossible for Ria or Will to see underneath his eyepatch, his magical eye briefly activated. With his ability to see right through solid objects with his eye it wasn't necessary at all to remove the eyepatch first, making it impossible for others to know if he's using it or not. In fact nobody at all would even know the extent of his magical eye and very few even knew he had one. While the cover of water obscured everyone else's vision of Bessie she was clearly visible to Cade now, writhing deeper down into the water away from where she had just surfaced. Like this he had a clear view to memorize her shape and size. Looking a little bit further he began to look underneath her scales and muscles, identifying where her heart and other organs were located in her anatomy. Ya know, just in case.

After a brief scan he deactivated the eye and turned his gaze over to Will, who was handing Ria some kind of magical ring to help him track her. That was good as now all three of them would know the position of the others without a need for communicating directly. "Sure you don't need one of those for me too?" Cade joked before his attention was drawn elsewhere yet again. The approaching rowboat that contained one of the mages that held up the barrier. Being as there were currently no other boats at the dock this would be the perfect dinghy to "borrow" for the quest. While Will called out to the man as he approached, Cade actually walked to the edge of the dock where the man was approaching and leaned over to hold out his hand. "Here, brother, let us relieve you of duty so you can get some rest," Cade said to him as the boat reached the dock, obviously intending to help the man out of the boat so that Will could take it. This guy probably would know that none of the trio were on the team maintaining the barrier but he surely would know that they were wizards from the guild here to take the Bessie quest.

After the other two had answered the interviewer's prompt, Arcturus realized that he and Sebastien were the only ones left who had not answered. Once it became apparent that the older man would not speak, he began thinking of his response.

"Ah, of course. Why did I join the Guild? Well... That's, uh... Hm..."

An uneasy silence settled over the once-jovial blond as he pondered his own answer to the question. "I guess I'm here for one reason: to find a certain man," he answered ominously. Then, without missing a beat, he said something that a certain ex-brigand would've died to hear: "And when I do, I'm going to kill him."

Dead silence.

"Please don't put that in the news, ma'am, I was just kidding," Arc laughed, before giving his true(?) answer: "But to be honest, I am here because of someone. Someones, actually."

He looked off to the distance, to the shadow of the mountains just barely visible on the horizon. A melancholic smile graced his features. If there had been a photographer, they certainly would have immortalized this image.

And then probably sold it to some young Whiteharborites for quick cash.

"The short of it is: we used to live nearby, and I hoped if they ever wanted to come home, they'd pass through. I ended up joining the Guild because uh..."

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"You see, I used to read a lot of Sorcerer's Weekly as a kid, and I thought joining a guild would be the best way to help out around here. Either way, I think it's been really neat!"

It was at that point that Sebastien was saved from having to answer the question, because the group had reached their destination: the northern grove to the east of town.

It was a patch of primal green buried beneath a sea of snowy white. Dark evergreens loomed above and gnarled overgrowth traced the wintry paths below. Sunken snow and light foliage marked the remnants of once-well-traveled paths. According to local lore, there was a shrine hidden somewhere in the deepwoods, one dedicated to an old and forgotten god. But nobody remembers where it was--or if it even existed. Now the grove exists as little more than a site for tests of courage and ghost stories.

And, evidently, child disappearances.

"Jeez, this place gives me the creeps." Arc mumbled, treading deeper into the wood. He reached a clearing and turned to the rest of the group and began quickly briefed his team regarding what the mother had told him earlier.

"Mrs. Whitecliff told me that her son was taken in the dead of night and all we have to go off of is this place." He gestured to the looming shadow of the woods around him. "According to her, her son reported seeing strange lights in the night before disappearing, and the town militia's search party found... Let me see if I can find one... Ah! Here we go."

He knocked a gloved hand against the wood of a nearby tree. On it was carved a strange symbol. Its rough, angular geometries did not suggest anything obvious to anyone in the group.

"Any theories? Or do we want to get started looking?"

Lee shrugged, having been distracted by the tiny shape shuffling through the woods behind them. While it was difficult for it to follow unnoticed in a building, the outdoors were much more comfortable for them. Lee turned back to the group as Arc spoke, the symbol meant little more to him than it did to the others, but the lights were concerning. As if in response the glittering wisps became more visible now, indistinct shapes that filled the space around Lee with light. "Let's just hope we can find the kid soon, has anybody seen the lights since? I suggest we talk to the people who saw them. Otherwise we need somebody who can recognize the symbol here. The other obvious route is wandering aimlessly in the woods."

Meanwhile, the shape came into view, a small hooded figure wearing a thick white wool coat stared at Lee from behind a tree. Her fingers twitching as she suddenly lurched forwards, a large shard of bone erupting from the snow behind Lee only to be interrupted and shattered by the upper skull of a small dragon that seemed to warp itself into the space where the shimmering lights used to be. "You haven't been practicing, your constructions are feeble and incomplete. Nice trick though, using the snow to hide your attack."
Both constructs of bone faded away, like ash in a heavy wind.

The figure kicked at the snow angrily, removing their hood and waddling angrily in Lee's direction. "Cheater, you could feel me standing there! Besides, MawMaw said it's more important to practice healing."

Lee nodded, pulling the girl closer as he spoke to the group. "This is my daughter, Violet. I suspect her grandmother is out of town to meet a few friends, so I'm stuck with the little gremlin at the moment." The little girl grinned at the group, her crooked smile and messy, short cut hair almost matching her father's save that the girl still had mostly brown hair. Her eyes though, her eyes were different. They were deep like Lee's, windows to a truth that her face refused to betray... They seemed older, more intelligent than the eyes of a girl her age. And in some ways? They were unsettling.

"Whatever we do, seeing as this doesn't seem inherently dangerous at the moment, she'll be coming along. Besides, she has more skill with healing than I do, in the case one of us gets hurt?. Also, to answer the earlier question, My mother has been living here for a while, But I showed up a little while after Violet was born. Joined the guild a good half year ago just to get the gremlin to stop bugging me about it."

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Seeing the beast rise out of the water trying to get something, Ria smirked a little. This is going to be fun. Bessie was about the same size as Cormenila. She loved chances to spar with him. This was just going to be less fighting, and more tag. "Just like a game of tag," she muttered to herself with a nod. Fun.

Her attention turned back to Will when he offered her the magical ring. Her eyes lit up, smirk turning an excited grin. "Oh, wow! This is so cool!" She took it and slid it onto the pinkie of her offhand. If she did need to throw a punch while dealing with Bessie, she didn't want to make it hurt more from the ring, or break the ring in the process. That would kind of ruin the point. She held up her hand to both watch it adjust to size and admire it. "So awesome."

She looked over at Cade when he joked about needing one. She laughed. "I thought you were supposed to be keeping an eye on us." The smile left her face as she realized he was helping one of the barrier mages off the boat. She jogged over to help the mage off his boat. Surely that was why Cade was here too.

"Hey, Kaito. Bessie isn't leaving as fast as I was told she would, huh? We're going to get her on her way." She offered the mage a smile. "You shouldn't have to go back out again to deal with her tidal waves. So rest up and relax, 'kay?" She waved as she walked toward the far end of the dock. "Right, guys, are you ready? Time to dive right in, right?" She laughed at her own pun.

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"W-wha. . ." The young man looked between Cade and Vectis with glazed eyes, barely able to focus on their words before Ria piped up. Kaito looked at the small girl with a slow turn of the head, a hand holding up his head as he stumbled his way into a seating position. "R. . . Ria? I'm sorry, I'm a bit out of it right now. Been. . . holding up the barrier. . . four hours. . . so . . . tired."

With a groan, the poor mage fell backward, sprawling out along the dock with his eyes rolled up into the back of his head. He was still alive but obviously pushed well past his limits in keeping the rogue waves conjured by the massive sea creature from wrecking the town. Luckily, that meant that there was nothing stopping the group from nabbing the small boat for themselves.
@j8cob
@pkken
@Sanguine Rose

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The reporter listened to all of the group's responses with keen interest, writing down notes on her lacrima slate. She offered a small apologetic nod to Karna for her assumption that she wasn't a native, feeling more than a little embarrassed for the misstep. At Lee's insistence on taking a child with them, however, she couldn't help but furrow her brow.

"Isn't this a quest revolving around a missing child? I'm not on expert on these things, but that seems a hair irresponsible of you to do as her caretaker." Tapping her stylus against her tablet, she wrote down a few more notes with a frown before tucking it away to approach the symbol that Arc had pointed out. With a slight incantation, she conjured a magical seal in her palm to run over the symbol. Her eyes lit up for a moment, rapidly shifting images fluttering across her iris before she let them fall shut with a shudder. Taking a step away, she brought a finger to her chin, tapping at it in deep thought as she considered the marking.

"In any case, this symbol you pointed out is. . . old. Really, really old. My Archive's database can barely pull up anything about them. If i can hazard a. . . rough translation, I'd say that they all seem to imply no small amount of danger to anyone passing this threshold." She slipped a none to conspicuous glance towards Lee as she said this, eyebrow raised but choosing to continue talking to the group as a whole rather than making further comment. "I can't really read anything else besides that, but if we're going to split up at all, I'm probably going to stuck with you, Arc. Call it a hunch."

@Hero@Grey@KiwiTime@Inkarnate