<(Rook)>

Rook walked around with heavy feet, whirring slightly as the gears turned within his metal frame. He noticed that the wolf that had been summoned by the party's druid was staring at some bramble for a second or two. He tilted his head and looked down at where it was looking, seeing the faint shape of something in the the bramble below him. He reached down and grabbed handfuls of it, tearing it out in large chunks in search for the thing. If he found a person hiding in there, he would quickly reach forward and grab them by the neck before dragging them out to the rest of the group. If there wasn't a person, he would decide whether or not to check out whatever the wolf was looking at next.

~^Osxium^~

Ox noticed that the girl was looking at him funny. He understood that it would be a little odd for a random man you just met to randomly sit down next to you while playing music. So, he decided that it would be in his best interest to introduce himself.

"Hey, my name is Osxium." he didn't extend a hand out to her since that would stop him from playing. "But, you can call me Ox." He genuinely smiled at her, which was only barely different from his normal fake smile, and nodded slightly. "What's your name?"

Noticing the actions of his wolf, Visage's eyes narrowed a bit. With his telepathy still active, Visage spoke in general to anyone in the vicinity of the bush. "I know you're in there, and were I not more concerned by the potentially much larger threat, I would be more than happy to handle this myself..."

Uncertain who or what might have heard him -- if at all -- he turned his attention to the direction his wolf was now heading, stalking ahead slowly, bow at the ready.

Aurea smiled a little at Lera's words apparently satisfied, or amused by them. "Good." Was all she said. The knight could frown at the merchant leaving the city at time of need, internally accuse her of cowardice, but she found no layers of such emotion within. The girl shouldn't have been put in front of such choice in the first place. Also, it's not like she was actually running away.

The woman knew what's going on the moment she noticed Sir Dreimon leading more than just one horse. Her smile disappeared as she sighed. "It's not that I want to go alone. More like I have to...There's less risk that way..." Aurea's gaze ran to the side for a moment. "Or so I hope..." The answer was a bit cryptic, but the knight has already proven to be not the one for long explanations. The woman struggled with her thoughts, before she breathed in deeply and her eyes swept back over the group and crossed with Dreimon's. "All of you...I'm not talking you out of this, am I? Fine...but once we find the lair, you listen and do what I say." Aurea was missing the usual softness in her voice there at the end. She approached the closest mount, and after adjusting some straps, saddled up on it with one fluent movement, as if her armor weighted nothing. The horse would probably be of a different opinion. She held onto the reins with one hand, the other occupied by her sword. Once more she addressed the captain. "Also...Do have someone take over your duties, and have town at ready during our absence...I've still got an awful feeling we're one step behind, ever since that chill." Once more, knight's words had close to no sense.

Once everything was ready, Aurea would lead the escapade out. With the tracks clear enough even for her to pick most of the time, she had one more clue to guide herself. She would follow the direction, from which the familiar essence blew the most, excluding the ever present current reaching out to her all the way from Highmount.

Rhea was in fact not in the bramble that the large mech was tearing apart. She wasn't even close to it. Instead, she stayed where she was, waiting for the wolf to get closer and closer and closer to its prey. It must have picked up on the scent, because Visage's wolf took off running down the road toward Thornfell as if it were chasing something. Rhea brought an outstretched hand closer to her chest, observing her fingers which appeared to have lost a bit of color. From her cozy hiding spit, she turned back to her party, waiting to see how they would react to the wolf's sudden sprint.

Rabbit winked, before replying, "Foolheaded? Mebbe, but I kin take care of myself pretty good."
"Cmon, les get goin already, alright? Times a wastin."

"Then we move," Sir Dreimon ordered. "The trail is still fresh. We simply need to follow the trampled bushes as far as we can then settle for other clues when that runs path runs dry."

He rode on his steed with one quick movement and handled the reins. He waited for a bit until Lera and Rabbit were on theirs before nodding to the rest of the group. "Hiya!" He yelled and the horse gallopped forward and the rest of the party went along. The trees near the forest were sparse enough for their speed but as they travelled deeper, it began to close it. All four riders slowed their horses, Sir Dreimon quizically looking at the sound of bushes coming from the front.

"Something is coming," he said as he brandished his sword, his steed slightly stepping back only for him to urge the animal forward again.

Out from the bramble lunged a wolf. The knight captain looked down at the canine with suspicion but before he could make any motion for the rest of the group to follow, a familiar changeling escaped the bramble as well, revealing himself to be none other than Visage.

"Not who I expected," Sir Dreimon muttered, somewhat reluctant to return his blade. "Is there danger, Visage?"

=-=-=-=

Esther clicked her tongue, disagreeing with the current events. "Where has that changeling run off to?"

The Order member took another look at her lantern, still glowing, still sensing danger.

The girl on the sled looked to Esther then at Oxsium, afraid of the bard. "I..." she stammered. "I.. I am Lysea. I like your music." She said a bit worriedly, as if the last was to flatter so that she wouldn't get hurt. When the elf left her presence, she sighed, visibly relieved. Rook however was a bit conflicted at his master's decision.

"There is.. danger here," it said simply as it raised a hand to stop Oxsium.

Rhea took a few steps out from where she was hiding and announced to everyone, “Congratulations on not dying last night. I see you’ve come back with more people than you left with.” Drawing her string back and aiming her wooden arrow at Ox, she added, “Does knife ears here really talk as much as the changeling? That’s unfortunate. You guys want to put something on his head and take bets on whether or not I hit it or him? What about you, Rudolph? I’ve known a few Dwarves that like to make a few bets. How about it? Losers buy dinner.” The string wasn’t pulled back much as to not strain it too much. “So who’s the new guy with the machine? Does he do more than play music?”

Ox looked over as a woman started talking about something.

Great, I'm glad to see that humans are still stupid.

Ox rolled his eyes as he repositioned himself next to his robot companion. The fingers on his left hand suddenly switched chords as his right hand stopped strumming. At this point, and only this point, he took time to analyze the new person. Her appearance didn't impress him nor did her demeanor. He had met hundreds of other women just like her. So, instead of speaking to her, he leaned against the sturdy stance of his Clockwork and began to tune his cittern.

Visage relaxed his bow to half-pull, calling the wolf back to him telepathically. He remained on alert.

"Something, yes. There was another threat back further in the bushes, but I judged it to be of little concern. Considering you are here, I will assume it is one of the party members -- the archer, most likely. There was, however, sound coming from this direction. I was using my summoned wolf to help track, since its senses will be more keen than my own."

He paused, listening and scanning the area before continuing if there was no danger.

"The night passed well...from the direction I came is the rest of our party, along with both a Lantern Bearer Priestess, a little girl, a strange bard, and a war-clockwork we encountered this morning. We have all of the silver and weapons ready as well, in a sled. How fared the town?"

Rudolph didn't do much while Ox and Visage went to look for whoever was in the bushes. He wasn't one for hide and seek so simply waited for whoever it was to show themselves so he can punch them, or for whoever to walk away. The dwarf was a bit surprised to see Rhea as she emerged from the shrubbery. He let her talk before greeting her. "Ay lassie! Good t' see ya, 'n Oy can say the same to ya. Though what're ya doin out here? Lookin fer some grub? Cause gotta tell ye, 'aven't even seen a squirrel." Then he went on to answer her questions. "Ayy dat be Ox and 'is golem. An' sadly 'e talks as much if not more. 'E can also sing, but not worth 'is weight in ale. Oy do consider m'self a bettin man, but think you'd lose either way cause ye'd waste an arrow." He stomped up to the huntress and pulled a bag out of his pockets. "Though gotta thank ye fer makin 'im stop 'is playin. 'Ere's silver arrowheads, bet ye can put these t' use." Rudolph finished with, "But Oy say let 'im be, may have some room between da ears but 'e got grit fer a knife-ears. A good trait no matter what ye be.

"Then this be Esther, she part of da Order of tha Lantern-Bearer. She got as tough a tongue as you. The whelp be a survivor from the caravan."

He looked over to Ox and Rook. "Now git! We gotta get ta town and deliver the weapons." He smiled at Rhea, "Got real beauts in dem sleighs. Enough to outfit da militia and den some."

Aurea rather reluctantly has made her horse slow down and then stop. When the changeling appeared as the reason of disturbance, she didn't look all that surprised. The knight listened to what he had to say, digesting some less, some more important information, and shook her head at last question. "The town was attacked as soon as the night fell...Or rather, when it got dark suddenly. No real casualties, but a lot of wounded. Which might've been on purpose...Infection. The raid was oddly organized, and I don't really believe it was a simple hunt. They had purpose." Aurea sounded almost as if she was giving in a report. "Not sure what it is but... Anyway, if I-...We hadn't been there, this attack might've ended worse. As much as this town could make use of more silver weapons, they need people to wield them properly. There's even less of them after yesterday...I dare to believe Thornfell will get overrun within few days. With silver, or without it."

Anger was bubbling up rather quickly when Ox thought he could just waltz back on over to his precious waste of metal, completely ignoring Rhea. She could visualize the arrow piercing clean through his throat, spraying his blood over the lantern bearer and that child. He wouldn't die instantly, no, but he would likely go into shock as he tried to sing or play a damn song. Even in death this half elf fuck would probably be just as annoying.

Rudolph approaching and breaking the silence got her mind back on track as she reminded herself that she was a professional through and through. Rhea accepted the silver arrowheads with a smile and a nod in thanks before stashing them away in one of her own pouches. "To be honest though, many of the Lycans were killed without silver weaponry last night. Cutting with silver would likely be more effective, but I think stabbing in general is the way to go for the lesser of the bunch. There was a very large boar creature among them that seemed rather durable and the leader of the bunch. I'm not sure what you all encountered last night, but these things aren't very rabid. They learn from their mistakes and adapt." Rhea sighed. "Aurea is planning on going to search for their den, so I imagine she'll be on her way through here any time now. I personally think we should continue on with our initial quest rather than fighting every tiny battle that we come across. The woods are very scarce of wildlife, and I haven't got too much food stored to keep wasting days."

Rhea glanced over at Esther and the little girl and gave them a slight wave of the hand and a slight, mostly genuine smile. "At least if things get really bad we can keep the mech and eat the half breed." She shrugged and gave Ox a wink before signaling with her hand for Rook to carry on with the sleighs. "An arrow saved indeed."

"There are other details, too, Visage," Lera chimed in, "It seems the city's High Constable, Quentin Thawne, went missing ever since the attack. Not only that, Lantern Cross apparently had an incident, drying up supplies."

"There was also this peculiar knight from the Lantern Cross shipment. He was delusional and mad, whose life ended from lockup to death. Mauled and collected by a humanoid boar. It's possible he was the lure for the lycanthropes to track us. Or perhaps carrying the infection. We may never know."

Ox firmly smacked Rook on the chest, a signal for him to calm down a bit and start pulling the sleds once again. He ignored the girl's wink as he took the lead alongside his sturdy companion, who easily gathered the sleds once again. Before he decided to speak, gen had some things to tell Rook. He took his fingers and placed them in the middle of his pointed ears before pulling them back quickly. Then, he placed two fingers at his neck and used his other hand to point at his eye.

"Alright, we should hurry up. I don't like being out hea. There's some weird creatures and lycans out here."