Village in northern Glacia, Sunday July 21, 2013 (Fandom Time)

[heromaniac]

Momoko hovered above the ground in the small clearing at the edge of the rather large forest. They were just outside of the village of Kovel, according to the maps they'd borrowed from Jono

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[blondecanary]

They hadn't exactly been welcomed when they walked in; but they hadn't been rejected, either. Wary, that's what the villagers were.

It took a few hours of talking, buying drinks, and encouraging listening, but they finally got enough information from the locals to know a little of what was going on.

Item: Six people missing from the village, last seen heading east and north to cut through a swath of forest that lead to Sidra.

Item: Travelers claiming they'd been attacked in the forest by Arcerian cats.

Item: a dozen locals who had gotten lost, disoriented, and woken up terrified in the woods, with nightmares of claws and being lost in the dark.

"So, looks like the woods." Dinah stood at the edge of the forest and squinted at the path through it. "Somehow, I doubt the Arcerians are showing up to create a den here, though."

[heromaniac]

"And even if they did, why would they attack anyone? Wouldn't they try to make friends? This isn't the best hunting grounds in winter, after all," Momoko nodded, glad to be back in her Blossom outfit as she stood beside Dinah and finished loading up on her potions and weapons.

"Do you know how much daylight we have left?"

[blondecanary]

"They're a lot more likely to avoid people. They don't think much of humans. Comes of being turned into fur rugs a few times." Dinah shook her head and took out one of her Barbara-designed batarangs. "I think we've got just under two hours."

[heromaniac]

"Then we should stay together, in case we need to make a quick exit." Momoko debated a moment, then switched her yo-yo for a short sword and led the way into the trees. "Mistrust of humans is even more reason for them to not attack, then. At least not without being attacked first. Do they have Craft, too?"

[blondecanary]

"Yeah, for the most part. They've got a pretty good truce going through Karla, too... did you ever get a chance to visit Haven last summer?" Dinah was scanning the path, trying to see if there was anything obvious-- or just weird-- about the area. How far in would they have to go before they saw anything, or heard anything? She stopped to listen for a second, then said more quietly, "Normal animal noises. If there were huge cats in the area, they'd be quieter.. so I guess we can take that as a warning if they suddenly cut off."

[heromaniac]

"Only briefly. I was here for a visit when I was trying to figure out where to move. Stayed mostly at the Keep, but we did visit." She had spent most of that time with a small family of rescued orphan kittens, though... Lots of belly skritches and hand-feedings!

Momoko kept half an eye on the ground as they moved along. "I'm not seeing signs of any animal movements, really. Most of this mess," she reached out to finger some brush. "Is actually cut. See? The edges are sharp, like when made with a knife. Villagers looking for the missing people?"

[blondecanary]

Dinah got closer, then pulled a magnifying glass out of her utility belt. "No. Too many, too close together-- sword. Not a machete or something similar, it's too even, you're right." She paused. "Which begs the question of who, and why."

[heromaniac]

"Seriously." Momoko held out a hand to ask silently for the glass, frowning slightly. "I don't remember any of the villagers here actually having swords."

...

"It would be wrong of me to be a little excited by this right?"

[blondecanary]

Dinah handed it over, shading her eyes against the setting son and considering their path. "If you're wrong, so am I. It's the only lead we have right now." She pointed off to the east. "Follow the cuttings, mark our trail, see what we find?"

[heromaniac]

"Sounds suspiciously like a plan," Momoko agreed, bending over to examine the cuts closer. They seemed almost haphazard, as if made more out of boredom than need. "Wonder why we didn't hear rumours of swords."

She finished her examination and handed back the glass and started down what looked to be a path, outlined by more cut brush. "Seems like something people would remember, a cat using a sword," Momoko added drolly.

[blondecanary]

"Unless someone deliberately hid them?" Dinah suggested. "Or they're really good hiders."

The brush here was thick in and around the trees. Stones jutted up at random, mostly small ones, but the occasional grouping that were closer together, covered in moss.

"The main point is to scare people... well, no. Whatever's going on with the people who disappeared, that's an issue too." Dinah really hoped they were still alive.

[heromaniac]

"That's not the point, that's totally just the how. The point is that it's making people doubt that they're safe." Momoko stepped around a cropping, brushing an unexpected spiderweb from her face as she did. (Luckily there wasn't any spider in it or there would be screaming, hero or not. EW, BUGS!)

"Not that I understand how that is doing anything for Hobart."

[blondecanary]

"Because it's new, and he can blame any changes on Karla's presence. Especially since people know she's allied with the Arcerians... Glacia really suffers from not having a free press that would dig up dirt on this and publicize it," Dinah grumped. "I keep stumbling on things like that. The how-can-people-believe-this and then remembering that there's no internet, no television, no radio, no real newspapers that are national."

Granted, that also meant no one defaming Karla past horrible posters, but still.

"...and did we just pass that group of trees a minute ago?" Dinah stopped to check and see if the blaze of yellow chalk was on one side.

Yep.

[heromaniac]

The yellow was perfectly within Momoko's line of sight. "No," Momoko's voice dropped slightly as she set a hand on her shortsword. "Dinah, do you hear growling?"

[blondecanary]

Dinah paused. "No. Not even a little." She looked back and Momoko, and said, "Why, do you?"

[heromaniac]

"All around us." Momoko hissed, drawing her sword with one hand while waving at Dinah with the other. "There. Just ahead. Eyes in the bushes."