Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens

“Aww…” Estelle whined as the leech monster they had subdued earlier fled back into the forest where it came from, leaving Trixie behind to dust herself off and marvel at the preposterously sized creature they had defeated, the so dubbed Millipiderlen. Don didn’t know how to even respond to the Little Missy, collapsing instead to the ground by her side, wishing to the Gods that this was already done with, but was instead sadly reminded of how much longer there really was. The spider skittered along the ground towards Don, bending its head down to rub and nuzzle the Bro, causing him to shriek in horror once again.

"Umm... I think we probably got enough points to place... Hopefully...?” Lisette murmured, as she watched some of the contestants return with their own absurdly sized creatures. Estelle meanwhile watched the people and their bugs with narrowing eyes, her pupils flicking between them and their own dual prizes. A twinkle in her eyes signalled the terrifying dawn of a new idea within her mind.

“We’ve still got time. I’m sure there are bigger bugs out there we could catch-”

“No!” Don wailed. “No, no more bugs! This thing’s big enough!”

“Or… Hehehe…”

Estelle dashed off back towards the forest, heading towards the black zone despite the protestations of her friends behind. Some chose to follow her back in, although Don and the others too tired simply stayed behind, with Don wishing he could be a snail and curl up inside a shell to be away from the spider.

And thus… an hour later…

“Well,” Estelle smirked, placing both of her hands on her hips and lifting her head up in a proud, triumphant sneer. It was almost time for the judging to begin. “I don’t know if we’ve got the biggest, but I’m sure we’ve got something that could win somewhere here!" A sly chuckle escaped her lips as she thought of how much competition she managed to remove by simply stealing all the bugs she saw as she went. "I think we should be able to take first, all the way down to 20!”

Behind her was a preposterous amount of large bugs, every single one having been knocked out by Estelle and her friends and dragged back to the starting area with the help of Don’s eight legged bro. She had to admit she had a nice day here in the end. This was good training.

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens

The rest of the tournament flew by incredibly quickly, from Dylan returning to the ground with a grateful prayer, his fervent apologies to Trixie, and Estelle’s mad attempt to capture every bug in the forest. He remained with Don, unwilling to leave the millipiderien’s immediate area in case his second net should fail, and tried to cheer up his Big Bro. The plan was ultimately flawed, though, since Don got more and more unnerved with each prize that the Spider returned.

“Well,” Estelle smirked, placing both of her hands on her hips and lifting her head up in a proud, triumphant sneer. “I don’t know if we’ve got the biggest, but I’m sure we’ve got something that could win somewhere here! I think we should be able to take first, all the way down to 20!”

“Yes, it appears you have that down,” Dylan said with a smile as he petted the spider. The arachnid rubbed his face against Dylan’s - was that his way of hugging? “But I think the better question is - what should we call our new friend here? He needs a name. Don’t you, you cutie?”

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens (Group A)

"Holy butterberries..." Like Dylan, Trixie too remained by Don's side as Estelle fetched other bugs left and right. Unfortunately the prankster remained all too captivated by the milipederien to even bother comforting her sobbing superhero. That thing couldn't be a bug, could it? No way that thing was--

Then it hit her. She spoke way too fast for her tongue to handle, slurring her words and detailing her story with her hands. "Oh... oh! Oh it's just like- it's just like that one part of 'the Wonderboy' comic! You know, when he and his super hot mama sidekick fought this giant bug monster that was terrorizing the village and, oh my omelets I think this is the same buggy that Wonderboy fought! Wooooowwww." She was too caught up with staring into the milipederien's soul to even realize the amount of critters Estelle had brought back with her.

Seeing as Trixie's eyes were still locked on the bigger creature, she totally thought Dylan was referring to the milipederien with his question. It was arguably cute if you looked at it long enough. "We should call him Leggy because he has a lot of legs." Then followed Trixie's prodding of the three girls, asking if they could keep Leggy as a pet. Or even a companion like Kapi. Because Leggy would be a totally awesome sidekick.

---

Thaum: Colosseum (Group B)

Just as Amy wrapped up healing the final patient there, she let out an enormous sigh, rolling her shoulders and stretching her neck. That amount of healing takes some work! But it'd be so anti-guildy to call it a day now when everyone was still fighting out there. From just around the corner, Amy could hear Jeff and Moira yelling, followed by Selan's lovingly piercing song.

Wait, piercing? Did the songstress have a megaphone in her voice or something? Amy did not expect this from someone she thought was rather soft-spoken, talents aside. "How the fuck can she do that!?"

As Amy returned to the open, she felt oddly invigorated the more Selan sang on. Though there was nothing she could do strength-wise, she put her magical prowess to use immediately and sent out defense buffers to Moira and Lute first, before reaching the remaining four known names, including Selan and even Jeff. Despite the monstrous size of the scorpion, she was confident they would knock it out in a breeze - assuming those inflamed asshats stayed out of the guilders' way. Still it was best to take precautions and minimize casualties at all costs.

Thaum: Colloseum
While Moira's sword succeeded in knocking one of it's legs from under it, the scorpion remained standing. And looked pretty mad, flinging someone's shield away. Nonetheless, she'd pissed the thing off. It scuttled around to face the group she was with, tail high in the air and ready to strike.

Oops.

Then she felt a peculiar sensation wash over her. A beautiful, belting song, somehow loud enough to carry over the loud din of the scuffles throughout the building. She couldn't quite place how she felt different straight away. She knew she felt better. Not that she had time to consider that-!

The scorpion's tail suddenly lashed out, and Moira brought up her greatsword ready to guard against it... only to be pushed to one side by another gladiator. Well, he had it. Whatever. She didn't bother to check if his shield held.



Syed similarly felt, well, better. Invigorated, even. Like he could push himself further. He afforded himself a glance towards Selan, glad to see safe, before he saw that oh-so-familiar golden glow encapsulating Moira. Looks like the two ladies had their backs.

"Everyone get back!" he shouted as loudly as he could over the din, his hands and arms moving in wide, fluid movements. Then he brought one arm before him, closing one eye to help him aim.

He fired, once more filling the room with a bright, brilliant blue-white flash. Please let the shock stun it, please please please!

Moira didn't react to this, chosing instead to run forward, sword held behind her. Syed once more stumbled as she got too far in front and their bond pulled him forwards. With another yell, Moira leapt up into the air, swinging the her greatsword right at the scorpion's head in the hopes of knocking the scorpion down to the ground.

Thaum: Bugtanical Garden (Group A)

Like Don, Dylan, and Trixie, Xan chose to stay behind. She didn't want to see more of those milipederians.

Estelle ran back into the forest, their eight legged friend trailing behind her. In an hours time those two had captures lots and lots of bugs. It was very impressive. Xan made a face at all the twitching critters and laughed a little when Dylan called the spider cute.

"You could name it Don number two," she joked before giving the terrified bro a sympathetic smile.

She wasn't too fond of the bugs either, but Trixie seemed to really like the melipederian. She even wanted to keep it as a pet. Xan raised an eyebrow at the grouchy looking creature. It didn't look trust worthy...and if they didn't feed it, the thing would probably spew acid on them. "I don't think we can take any of the wildlife home." The sound of several horns pierced the air before the speakers crackled to life. A familiar voice began to speak.



"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Time is up and the competition is over. Please head towards the garden's entrance."

Men, women, and children all retreated from the zones, dragging their haul behind them. They made their way back towards the entrance, some with nets full of butterflies and others with arms locked around a giant beetle. However, none of the bugs matched the miliperian in both size and strangeness. The pride made their way back towards the entrance with their catch. Everyone got into a line, their haul for the day sprawled out in front of them.

A lady in a summer dress stood on a makeshift stage. Three trophies on the table before her. There was a giant gold trophy, filed to the brim with gald and chocolate. A medium sized silver trophy filled with candy and a small bronze trophy.

Thomas walked around, inspecting everyone's catch before finally reaching the pride. "Glad to know you guys stuck around." He eyed the miliperian before giving the pride a toothy grin. "My, my, you've caught the biggest and most interesting bug by far. I didn't even know the garden had something like this." He nudged the creature with his foot before giving everyone a firm handshake. "Congratulations team? What should I announce your team name as?" He gave them a laugh. "Presenting this years winner!" He stepped back and the crowd began to cheer.





That singing? What was it? Jeff felt empowered! Plus, he felt another sensation, a warmth that made him feel like he was on top of the world. The gladiator laughed heartily, his eyes focused on the scorpion. Moira let out a yell before she charged towards the beast. The berserker managed to hit it hard on a leg.

Jeff grinned at Aria, Lute and Lucien. "Well, what are we waiting for! We can't let both of them have all the fun."

Lucien twiddled his thumbs. "Aah, yeah fun." He was too close to the scorpion to use his cards. If he hunkered down here, the crowd would probably trample him to death, so he picked up one of the fallen weapons and held it out awkwardly. Okay, he'd play bait. Yeah, that'd work...

One of the gladiators knocked Moira to the side, only to be swept away by the swing of the scorpion's tale.

"Everyone get back!" Jeff who was now in a brawl with one of the upset spectators, tossed the guy to the ground and scrambled back. A bright blue light filled the arena and he stared in awe. Most of the gladiators devoted their time to weapons, so seeing magic users was rare. The scorpion was stunned for a moment, it looked up only to see Moira, sword high above her head. Before the poor insect could do anything it was slammed into the ground with tremendous force.

The animal let out several hisses, it's feet twitching and tail swinging around wildly.

It was used to being the subject of brute force, but Moira's hit had take a lot out of the creature. It struggled to get back up, but Jeff quickly grabbed a hammer off the ground and slammed it into the trashing creature's head. "You're all really impressive," he let out a low whistle before giving Moira the toothiest grin ever. "And you," he looked at Selan. "That was some spectacular singing." He moved on to tap Lute and Syed on the back, extra hard.

"That thing will recover quick. Cover it up," one of the gladiators tossed a giant net at Jeff. He passed one corner to Lucien, the other to Aria and Lute. The guilders covered up the unconscious scorpion but even with the bug out of the picture, several spectators were still duking it out.

Someone rang a bell and began yelling and the fighting died down. Others however, had to be kicked out.

"Thanks for your help, I would have loved to buy you a drink." Jeff looked crestfallen, and he winced when he stared at the damaged Colosseum. "But the men and I need to fix the place up, there'll be another tournament tonight."

Lucien noticed that it was getting dark out and looked at the others. "I guess, we'll be meeting up with Dr. Dream now, yeah? Well, today was exciting." He grinned brightly at the others. "I bet the bug park was boring compared to this. We better go call Amy."

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens

"Congratulations, team? What should I announce your team name as?" Thomas gave them a laugh. "Presenting this year’s winner!" He stepped back and the crowd began to cheer, at the same time as Estelle bounced forwards and jumped into the air, her arms outstretched towards the sky in joyful jubilation.

“The Pride!” Estelle shrieked, and the gathered crowd released another roaring, pleasant fanfare. Confetti and streamers shot out from the sides of the stage, coating the giggling Guilders in rainbow coloured paper, as the Bugtanical Gardens’ guide, the hearty Bug Catcher Thomas, gave Estelle and Lisette the large gold trophy to hold aloft together, with Trixie squeezing in to prop it up from its base. The millipederen continued to lie unconscious behind them, dwarfing all of the other captured insects and drawing many a stare and murmur of admiration towards it.



“Woohoo.” Don added with deadbeat eye, blinking in disinterest before sharply turning to walk towards the exit. “A-anyway bro, sisses… I think it’s almost time to go and meet Mage Bro and those other two bros as well as Selan and the others, right?” He was eager to leave this world of terrifying creatures behind as quickly as he could. “We don’t want to keep the others wait- !”

From out of nowhere, the spider whom had befriended everyone jumped in front of Don, nuzzling him again and covering his entire face in some foul smelling grime. Don retched and screamed again, gasping for air and trying his best to spit out whatever it was that had gotten into his mouth, before running straight to the exit. Thomas meanwhile laughed, walking up to the spider and patting him on the head.

“You made some new friends today, eh, Barry?” The Bug Catcher playfully laughed.

“♪” Whistled Barry.

Thaum: Coliseum

“T-thanks,” Lute stammered out when the songstress helped him up. He resisted the urge to pat his knees to get rid of the dirt on his clothes, and decided to answer her inquiry. However, before he could even explain how his abilities were a pretty good match with hers (now, at least), Selan belted off and Lute had to pick up the pace in case he amplified the wrong bit. I mean, he didn’t know if her songs worked only when the whole part was heard or not, right? To anyone watching, it just seemed like some whacko with white hair was wringing his left hand around to imitate a fisherman gathering his net, but then the effect was clear. Selan’s voice overlapped the noises created by the nearest people, the area of effect expanding in a noticeably slower manner the further it was from Lute.

“Goshdarnit, could you just help me instead of snarking- Wow, okay, you’re working. Gee, the way you’re doing your share, I thought I was the one doing everything,” Lute muttered, his head once again tilted to the side as he engaged in yet another snark battle with his (imaginary?) companion. “Yeah, Delilah. You’re the queen. Whatever.” He finally fell silent, features creased in deep concentration as Selan kept her aria up.
In the end, the beast was defeated, victory was gained, yadda yadda, but the effort of amplifying something in a large area for an extended period of time made Lute just as weary as, let’s say, his other warrior buddies. He wasn’t sweating buckets, no, but he felt the strain in his head. If that made sense.

Time to cover up the KO’d bug. Lute threw his corner with far more gusto than everyone else did.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go meet Dr. Dream. C’mon, let’s get out of this place before another scorpion shows up,” Lute waved his hand dismissively and cringed when a passerby suddenly found her secret mutterings broadcasted over the nearest five meters. “Sorry, can’t control it. It’s like a… Um… What stuff can’t you control…? Ah, puberty. It’s like puberty,” He told the lady, who was now glaring at him with hateful eyes. Yeah, he was running his mouth off now.

Also, before all of them left the arena, Jeff said something around the lines of “Tell your sister I said hi, and she missed some pretty gnarly action today”.
Lute didn’t know how to react to this. Was Jeff hitting on his beloved sister? He trudged out of the Coliseum feeling more than a little disoriented with the sudden turn of events. Why does Jeff know his sister? Who used the word ‘gnarly’ to describe action nowadays? Why didn't Jeff shave? Goshdarnit, Jeff.

Thaum: Colloseum
"Thanks for your help, I would have loved to buy you a drink. But the men and I need to fix the place up, there'll be another tournament tonight."

"Eh, we can arrange it at a later time or somethin'," Moira shrugged. "I dunno how long we'll be in town, but I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for it."

Either way the group said their goodbyes. Moira gave Jeff a nod before she left, a smirk spread across her features. Oh yeah. She had still scored... somehow. Anyone else would be furious with a group of people aggrovating a crowd to the point of a riot, but whatever, she wasn't going to complain.

"Fuuuuuuuck, that felt good," she sighed, putting her arms behind her head and leaning back. "Who knew a song could make you feel like that? I felt like I could punch the ground in half." She turned to grin towards Selan. She hadn't figured out the connection between Selan and Lute's magic yet. "Bloody hell though, you sure can belt it."

With another sigh, she looked ahead again. "Right, so... where we going?" She strode over towards her partner, oblivious to the fact that he was keeping his distance from her, and nudged him in the ribs. "Ey, Sy, you were payin' attention. Where's the meet up spot? Oi! Sy!"



Syed didn't immediately respond, although that unfitting stern look had returned. Once it got to the poking and thumping though, he soon found himself flapping his arms about in undignified annoyance. "Look look no just get off!" he exclaimed, glowering at her. Geez, there were few people who could give a look like that. "I'm still mad at you, Moira! Don't touch me."

And with that, he'd distanced himself again as far as he could, going a little red as he wrapped his arms around himself.

"Ooooooohkay..." Moira blinked a couple of times, before shrugging and turning to Aria instead. "So where we going?"

Thaum: Colosseum (Group B)

Finally that monster of a scorpion was knocked out. Quickly the guilders nearby took to covering the knocked out bug. But Amy was already itching to go. Literally itching. All that sweat from the hard work everyone else exerted was beginning to rack on her nerves, and being surrounded by burly, fight-obsessed men (and women) who still battled with one another even after the scorpion was subdued only worsened Amy's dying patience.

All she wanted was a drink, and now that she was close enough to hear the other guilders, the man who offered it retracted it. Gods damn it.

"You guys coming or not." Running her nails frantically over her arms, Amy immediately about turned and took towards the exit, wherever it was. Considering she was fairly stationary most of the competition, she had at least a faint idea of where to go and decided against waiting any longer. "Well?"

Thaum: Coliseum

Aria tossed her corner of the net over the collapsed scorpion, edging away when one of its jointed legs twitched. Moira had luckily taken down the giant arthropod easily with the help of Syed’s stun and the aid of Selan’s song broadcasted by Lute. It was the first time she had heard Selan sing in person, and the songstress’ magic was very impressive. Even now she felt invigorated and gave Lute and Selan a happy pat on the back each as the fights died down around them and the net was dragged away.

"So where we going?"

“I believe the scientist said we were meeting at the fountain. We should leave soon, I think it’s almost the time we agreed on. Shall we go?”

She turned around to face Moira, only to blink at Syed who looked to be sulking close by. Was he not feeling well? Or maybe he was still upset at having to fight the wolves earlier.She beckoned for the others as she moved to follow Amy out of the Coliseum and made a note to ask if he was feeling ok later.

Thaum's Square: A few hours later...

Soon, Dr. Dream, Marcus and Atlas would arrive. They would talk a little bit more about the mission then travel to the mountains, there, they would meet one of the dream eater's victims. The morning had been fun filled and cheery, but things were about to get serious.The pride regrouped in Thaum's square, right beside a giant and beautiful fountain. The night air was cool and silver stars were strewn across the beautiful night sky. Thaum was quieter at night and less people roamed the streets. It was prettier too, the streetlamps casting a warm glow around the square. It made everything looked grand.



"They should be arriving soon, does everyone have their equipment?" Xan asked as she rummaged through her bad for the second time.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ready!" Lucien mumbled through a mouthful of hash browns. He looked like chipmunk, storing food in his cheeks for the winter. Food vendors pushed carts along Thaum's square. Street performers often did their little shows by the fountain, so tourists and vendors made it a point to gather at the square after sunset. Lucien flitted from cart to cart, buying as much street food as he could. "This is just grand," he took a bite out of a candy apple and cradled a box of 'em in his free arm. "Can you believe it." He gave his friends a dopey looking grin and bounced in place. "They sold me the entire box for a great price." The summoner hugged the box of candy apples to his chest before holding it out to the others. "Hey, hey, you guys should try these. The hash browns are quite wonderful too."

The metallurgist took a candy apple out of the box. "Thank you."

"You're welcome!" He left the box with his friends then rushed towards another food cart that was passing by. The other cart was selling dumplings and they had soda too! Lucien returned with a can of strawberry soda and a giant grin. "So where are they?"

"They should be arriving soon." Dr. Dream said to regroup before before seven, but It was seven thirty now.

They waited and waited. Lucien sat on one of the benches, stuffed, and Xan looked around, growing impatient.

Out of the corner of his eyes the summoner noticed something strange.

"I'm late, I'm late for a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye, I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" A white rabbit with a pocket watch in his hand began weaving his way through the crowd, careful not to get stepped on. A white rabbit was talking! What did these people put in their food? "What the heck..." Lucien leaped to his feet, causing a few of the passersby to stare. "Guys, did you see that?!"

The square began to grow emptier, and they waited for another hour. However, Dr. Dream, Marcus, and Atlas never arrived.

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens

Lisette fanned her flushed face, exhausted from helping Estelle catch more bugs. It was fun in its own unique way, but she hadn't used up so much of her stamina and magic in a pretty long time. At least it was good exercise for their mission later on.

Poor Trixie wanted to take "Leggy" along with them, and Lisette had no choice but to back Xan up. "Miss Xandra's right, Trixie. I think these gardens are sort of like a sanctuary, we shouldn't take them from their home, right? And Leggy'll be much happier in a web than coming along with us..."

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Time is up and the competition is over. Please head towards the garden's entrance."

The award ceremony was short and sweet, but Lisette would always remember balancing the big trophy between Estelle, Trixie, and herself...

---

Thaum: Coliseum

When Selan thought Lute was going to help, her initial idea was that he would keep her safe from any rioters or beasts that came near. But amplifying her voice was an amazing ability indeed -- Like Moira, she might not have realized he was even responsible for it if Selan wasn't so certain of her volume capabilities. So far, Lute was impressing her more than she would have guessed, although there was still the extremely odd way that he seemed to be talking to himself every so often. Presumably to "Delilah", Selan figured.

They readied themselves for their departure, which couldn't have come too soon after the mayhem they just experienced. After slipping in a word to Robin about safety precautions, they followed after Amy to the exit.

---

Thaum's Square: A few hours later...

"What would be keeping them so long...?" Selan asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"Maybe they're late like that rabbit?" Lisette asked, taking another marshmallow out of a bag and popping it into her mouth. The mixed bag of flavored marshmallows were the only snacks she had left after waiting for hours. She sat on a bench with Kapi in her lap, her new bow and quiver strapped across her back.

Selan rubbed her temple, beginning to grow frustrated with their repeated insistance that the talking, watch-holding rabbit existed. How many times had they brought it up since they've been waiting? She certainly hadn't seen it, and was quickly becoming convinced that they were simply making it up to try and fool everyone.

Lisette, however, was pretty sure she saw and heard it just as Lucien had, and would have followed it if not for the others' request that everyone stay together. It wasn't so strange an idea, considering they had all seen giant insects in Thaum. Right?

Thaum's Square

Trixie was quick to munch on one of the candy apples Lucien offered as well, holding her hash browns off to the side with her other hand. "Gee thanks, Lucy! You know good food when you see 'em!" She was sitting across Lisette on another bench, her belt-pouches clinking and clanking as she ate with zeal. Her new waist-belt now consisted of a whopping four pouches rather than two, all restocked with new ammunition and brand new uzis at Thaum's armory before the meetup. The shop was surprisingly cheap compared to the other stores they had resupplied at, even considering the lavish meal they feasted on earlier, but still Trixie's new gear cost both girls all of their earnings from the casino alone. She may have been upset at having to leave Leggy behind, but she was very quick to cheer up with guns and sweets.

Amy stood by the child, arms crossed as she scanned her surroundings. Her clutch was replaced with a new staff for her focus as well. It wasn't like Marcus to be late - even he seemed sober during their shenanigans at Los Paraisos.

Speaking of sobriety, a talking white rabbit buzzed by between the crowds. Amy barely caught a speck of it, though she couldn't believe it despite how everyone else brought it up. "Good Gods," Amy muttered to Selan and Aria, at least the former of whom had missed out entirely on seeing it. "I haven't drunken anything since Los Paraisos, right?"

Trixie made it more than clear that she had seen the rabbit as well. Sniffing her food - each candy apple and each hash brown - she looked just as flustered as everyone else. "Uhh. I don't think it's the food..."

Then, natural instinct kicked in. "I'm gonna chase him!" She dropped her foods on the ground and moved to charge after the fleeing bunny - but was held back by the wordless Amy, causing the prankster to slip and fall right onto her butt. "Awww, Amy! I coulda caught him and won a pot of gald, c'mooonnn..." Trixie pouted back with puffed cheeks.

Thaum’s Square

The bustling square wasn’t anything unusual for Lute since he lived in this place, but judging from the blobfish dude’s shopping spree not everybody had the same lack of interest he had for the area. After Lucien’s umpteenth hash brown the virtuoso finally whipped out his wallet and bought some eggplant omelettes for himself from a vendor he knew well, walking around the fountain as he ate. The random walking was a way to prevent himself from making conversation with anybody; he wasn’t well-acquainted with all of the members of the Pride yet, but he noticed that everyone looked tired enough and that his identity wasn’t that important to bug them with.
“Yes, Delilah. I’m sure he said 7 o’clock,” Lute murmured as he ran his hand through his thick white hair.

The busy district was slowly emptied of people and Lute frowned. Why was Dr. Dream so late? In the worst case scenario that he’d been attacked by some ruffians, either one of Marcus or Atlas would’ve been enough to protect him, so what was the hold-up? Lute paced around again furiously, his arms crossed over his chest as his mind began filling with unpleasant thoughts regarding the cause of Dr. Dream’s tardiness. “Why is he taking so long?” He asked nobody in particular, before deciding to plop down beside Lisette on the bench. Lute sighed and then leaned back. Yeah, maybe he should count the stars instead.

The virtuoso was startled when he realized that Delilah was urging him to look at something, and his head swiveled from side to side in order to see what it was. He finally zoned in on a, for lack of a better word, lump seated upon the archer’s lap. Lute’s eyes widened and he stared at Kapi. He wasn’t a biologist, but this one didn’t seem like a relative of the blobfish.

Thank the Gods. He didn’t have to worry about family retribution.

“Hello…?” He tried instead and waved at the capybara.

Thaum's Square:

Estelle’s fingers drummed along the hilt of her sword, as she sat atop the very edge of the fountain, her eyes peering around her surroundings for any sign of Marcus, Atlas, and their client Dr. Dream, to no avail. At first Estelle wasn’t too troubled, enjoying instead a variety of savoury treats and small nibbles in place of a proper dinner. But as the minutes toiled, and no sign of any of three men appeared, worry and doubt began to set within the swordswoman’s heart. Something wasn’t right. Her fingers drummed along the top of her sword’s hilt quicker still.

The rest of her companions didn’t seem quite as disturbed or upset as her, instead resorting to confusion and boredom as the hours passed, making up small talk amongst them instead to keep them busy. For some, they had apparently seen a talking, bouncing rabbit, but Estelle at the time had not, instead her thoughts had been focused solely on Marcus. She knew… knew there was something wrong. Originally she was going to walk up to Lute and ask him if his friend, Atlas, had a tendency to be late, but that wouldn’t excuse Marcus. And she knew him implicitly well enough to know that he would never be late, unless there was a good reason for it. And even then… even then there would be little to make him late. He’d always try to make it on time, no matter what.

Something was very, very wrong.

“Big Sis?” Estelle was broken out of her reverie by Don, who looked towards her with concern. He could read Estelle’s expression, and sense the tension and anguish within. He smiled, flashing her a thumbs up. “Don’t worry, Big Sis! Mage Bro’s awesome, he can take care of himself! Remember Tabul? He got me, Josey and all my other bros out without a problem! He’ll be okay!”

Estelle looked back towards Don, and then smiled at his efforts. The worry dissipated from her shoulders, and when she next opened her eyes, they were replaced with another emotion altogether. “I’m not worried, Don.” Estelle began. Her fingers left her sword, clenching together in a tight fist raised in front of her face. “I’m mad! How dare Marcus be late! When he gets here I’m going to give him a big fat piece of… my… mind…”

What Estelle saw next took the words out of her mouth.

Thaum’s Square

The Square was quite a sight with all sorts of shops and vendors. As soon as they arrived Dylan made a mad dash for the coffee vendor, grabbing himself a steaming cup while Lucy seemed intent on buying out all the other stalls. Dylan passed up the candied apples, content with waiting, but as time went on started feeling peckish. Eventually he approached a stall selling burritos, and once he arrived he spent a good five minutes picking out his dinner.

The poor blobfish still on his mind, he ordered one with only beans and veggies.

Upon returning, he found them all excited over a talking...white rabbit? “What on Ddear?” he said with a laugh. “Might have just been an illusion.” Laughing it off, he sat down to eat his dinner, before eventually dozing off in boredom.

“I’m mad! How dare Marcus be late!” Estelle said, shocking Dylan out of his light sleep. “When he gets here I’m going to give him a big fat piece of… my… mind…”

Dylan blinked, looking around in confusion. Was he still dreaming?

"Maybe we should go look for them." Xan suggested, but before the girl could say anything else Atlas made an appearance.

Neither Dr. Dream nor Marcus were with him, but that wasn't the most alarming part. He looked weary and had a bruise on his cheek, there was blood on his clothes too, none of the blood was his. The magician looked lost, expression one of disbelief and eyebrows knit together in frustration. He began sputtering curses beneath his breath as he paced around the town square.

Thaum's square was empty now, aside from a few vendors and the Pride.

Lucien stared at the magician then at his friends, where were Marcus and the doctor? "Hey,Atlas, yeah? We're here."

Atlas straightened up at the sound of his name, he hadn't noticed the pride until Lucien called. He eyed them one by one before letting out an exasperated sigh. "Gods," he didn't know what to say, so he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his bloodied coat and focused on Lute.

"What happened?" Xan asked, "where are Marcus and the doctor, are they aright?"

"I don't know," he muttered beneath his breath. Atlas looked away and kicked at the ground.

Why hadn't Marcus and the doctor returned? Why was Atlas covered in blood and why did he look so nervous?

Lucien looked at the blood and noticed that the only injury the other guilder had was a bruised cheek. "None of that blood is yours."

Xan arched an eyebrow at the declaration. "What happened?" She repeated, this time sounding less sympathetic and more serious.

Atlas straightened up and made his way towards the Pride. "What if I told you a man made out of cheese ambushed us?"

The metallurgist narrowed her eyes at the man, this wasn't the time to joke around.

The magician scowled. "We got into a fight with these things, and after that, some bear with a hammer hit me on the head. When I woke up...Marcus and Dr. Dream were gone. I swear to the Gods--to Dyn." He hissed. "I am not lying." The man focused his eyes on Lute. "I'm not fooling around either. It sounds crazy, but I swear, it's the damned truth."

Thaum's Square:

It had been a nice enough moment of relaxation, with a very happy (and very bored) Lisette munching on marshmallows. Lute even came over to wave at Kapi, something that many strangers tended to do, and as usual, the capybara sniffed warily in the young man's direction. The tiny animal quickly decided his affections: More than the scary giant lady. Much, much less than the wiry-bodied tall man.

Atlas wandered over moments later, looking dazed, out of place, and splattered with blood.

Lisette jumped at the mere sight of the man's bloody coat. "Oh my gosh, are you okay!?" she cried, assuming he was severely injured. She looked quickly to Amy, who didn't seem to be in any particular rush to help him.

Lucien was quick to assess the man's condition. "None of that blood is yours." This calmed Lisette down, although now she simply felt confused. Why would he be covered in someone or something else's blood?

Atlas began to explain. "What if I told you a man made out of cheese ambushed us? We got into a fight with these things, and after that, some bear with a hammer hit me on the head. When I woke up...Marcus and Dr. Dream were gone. I swear to the Gods--to Dyn. I am not lying. I'm not fooling around either. It sounds crazy, but I swear, it's the damned truth."

Selan narrowed her eyes, looking Atlas over suspiciously. She didn't not believe him, not yet, but he did say he had been hit over the head. Whatever happened, they had to operate on the assumption that their client and Marcus were in some kind of danger. "Where did this happen? Where are they now?" she asked Atlas calmly, trying to keep the situation under control before Estelle and the others started panicking over Marcus's whereabouts.

Thaum's Square:

Lute was entranced with the little capybara, and was now associating Kapi with his sibling. Maybe he should borrow the cutie and then present him to his sister. Now that the topic was raised: how would Ruana act if she saw something cute? Well, her cheeks would probably flush a light pink, and she’d smile. Maybe reach out to pat Kapi if it was a good day. No squealing or anything violent whatsoever. Not like him, really. He’d screech and steal the capybara, screaming “FREEDOM!” as he ran through the streets with the tiny creature in his arms; much like what he almost did with the blobfish if he/she wasn’t eaten, to be honest.
Sometimes Lute thought he was adopted.

He was interrupted from his unabashed capybara staring when Lisette stirred. His eyes immediately flicked away from Kapi and fell upon a familiar form approaching the Pride, and he had to blink a few times before he realized just who it was. The virtuoso got up and smiled at Atlas, but the cheery expression faded quickly when his friend shifted away from the Pride and turned towards him instead. In all his years with Atlas there had never been much of a silence; the few times such a situation happened were when Atlas met Robin and/or the two of them were being chastised by Lute’s sister/one of Atlas’s many siblings. Knowing this Lute immediately felt that something was wrong and took a step towards his companion, only to be stopped by the serious tone the metallurgist was applying to her inquiry towards Atlas. He suddenly felt heat rush to his face at the way she sounded. Why, did she think Atlas was a criminal? (Er…) There was no need to talk to him like he was common dirt beneath your boot, and the dark glower Lute shot towards Xandra made it clear that he was taking offense in his friend’s stead.

Atlas started to explain himself and well, even Lute became confused. A man made of cheese? As he was oblivious to the sightings almost everyone had about a running white rabbit, he didn’t quite feel right with this line of reasoning. He found Atlas staring at him, practically begging with his eyes for Lute to back him up on this matter, but he dropped his gaze and frowned.

“… You probably have a concussion, and that cut on your cheek could have been made when you fell down,” Lute lifted his face and approached the dark-haired man, only to gather thick clumps of hair from Atlas’s head and then tug. Hard. “You even have blood here!” He hissed in the other man’s ear, his features now contorted in worry and irritation. A concussion, as he had suggested, would pave the way for a claim of hallucination, but the Pride might say that Atlas did something fishy and tried to cover it up by doing this, by saying a cheddar man was the assailant. Not a pretty scenario.

Lute let go of his friend, still grimacing at the thought. “Atlas,” He started, then bit his lip before continuing, “ Did you hear anything? Like did the bear… or the cheese people… say anything about why they did that? If they could speak, that is.”

Looks like Lute has chosen where to place his beliefs.

Thaum's Square:

Before Atlas could have a chance to respond to any of the Pride’s inquiries, he suddenly found his collar roughly tugged and his body jerked and pulled to that of a girl’s face enveloping his entire vision. As much as he might try to pull and squirm his way free, her grip was unbreakable, and she looked towards him with indignation and disbelief. At first Estelle had listened to Atlas’ story, and listened to her friend’s confused questions and disbelief, whilst she silently tried to guage her own opinion. And at this point…

He was without Marcus or Dr. Dream, and covered in blood that did not belong to him. That did not bode well. For Atlas.

“Where.” She demanded, the question a demand. Even if Lute seemed to trust him, and she trusted Lute to some degree after their prior meeting a year ago, it didn’t mean she trusted Atlas. She didn’t know him, and whilst she tried to hope for her first impressions of people to be good… she wasn’t willing to take that risk anymore. Not after the Hawthorne Family, and not after whatever had happened in Los Paraisos. Atlas’ word wasn’t good enough. He had to prove himself.

“Where did this happen. Take us. Now.” Estelle ordered again, doing her level best to remain calm. Meanwhile, Don was doing her share of panicking, the tall man having become flustered and hopping up and down on his feet, trying his best to think of a way to diffuse the situation before it became unpleasant. His hands would reach towards Estelle’s shoulders and then back away, over and over again, as if he could feel sheer heat radiating from her body that would have burned him were he to touch. What to do? What to do?

“B-b-big Sis, it’ll be okay!” Don tried to cheer her up again. “We, um, we’ll find Mage Bro! Right? We just need to remain… um… calm, and…”

Don’s temperament suddenly switched, as the worry for his friend suddenly sank in, and like Estelle…

Don pushed in-between Estelle and Atlas, grabbing the raven haired man in his arms and shaking him wildly back and forth. “Where is he, bro?! Where’s Mage Bro! Tell me where he is right noooooooooow~~!~!~!! Or...! Or...! Or else, bro!!”