A Curious Case

The walk in itself didn't take too long. After all, Saki was more or less familiar with the area and that meant things felt easier to navigate through than normal. Cassima voiced her concern about the fog, to which Saki just smiled brightly.

"Don't worry, Cassima! I'll make sure to protect you if something comes out from the blue! If anyone sneaks up on us, I'll hear them coming!"

She pointed at her hare ears that twitched in delight. And then, a little more ditzily, "Or I might not! Who knows!?" she said with a shrug.

The two would eventually reach the building where they expected to meet the guard. Cassima asked if they should go the formal or aggressive approach.

"We could take a middle approach?" Saki said perkily.

Saki would march up to the door and, using a gauntlet covered hand, she knocked harshly on the door.

"Hello! Anybody there!? Partners in crime solving that need your help over here!" her voice was loud and high-pitched, and by all means a little too attention-grabbing.

As Saki shouted at the door, Cassima would hear a quick shuffling sound coming from nearby. If she bothered to look over, she would barely see a pair of feline eyes staring from a nearby alley.

Before she could make any moves, the door would creek open. A young man's face appeared in the door. His eyes were wide with fright, yet his jaw was set in anger. "The hell do you think you're doing!?" His eyes swiveled back and forth at the two of them and a look of suspicion crossed over his features. "Who sent you and why?" His voice was a harsh whisper. It was clear he was more nervous about attracting more attention. "And please don't scream it to the high heavens. It puts all of us in danger!"

Cassima happily nodded. "I know I could trust you Saki." She lied, as in her mind her current thoughts were.

"This girl is going to get me killed!" Oh well, it probably won't be too bad, seeing as how the girls have arrived at the house that they needed to go too. With Saki knocking on the door. Cassima took the time to look around...And began to hear something nearby.

As Cassima turned she noticed two pair of eyes looking straight back to her. They looked like a cat's as Cassima moved towards Saki. "Hey, Saki, are you see---But before she could finish, a man came to the door at the house. He fearfully asked the girls as to why their here.

Cassima turned back to the door. "Pardon the late night intrusion, but Silas had sent us to question you about the recent attacks in this village. If you would just let us in, then we could begin the questioning and before you know it, will be over in no time wasted at all." Cassima explained their reason as to why her and Saki were at the man's doorstep.

"If you don't mind asking my first question, what do you supposed IT is?" She asked the man at the door.

Saki hadn't noticed the figure at all and had completely missed Cassima's observation. Her eyes had been too focused on Silas. The man did not at all seemed pleased at their presence, but that didn't exactly phase someone like Saki.

Cassima beat her to explaining themselves, though, so she waited until the girl finished her questioning.

"What she said, Mr. Greaves," she stated. "And do know we won't accept no answers as an answer. Or else."

A little too excitedly, Saki slammed one fist into her palm as if in threatening him.

the young man looked between the two of the grimly as they played good cop/bad cop with him. He let out a heavy sigh. "Getting a bit of tonal whiplash here...Look you don't need to threaten me, I wanted to talk remember?" Finally he opened the door fully and stepped back. "Come in, it's not safe to talk outside."

They'd see a thinner young, human man. He was barely in his twenties, though his complexion was fairly rough. He'd spent many long hours in the sun and it truly showed. His hair was cut short, but frazzled. His eyes were bloodshot and tired, with bags starting to form under them. "Close the door behind you, then bolt it." He gestured for them to follow him deeper in the house, towards his living room.

The two would immediately notice just how heavily fortified the home was. The windows were boarded from the inside, the door itself had several bolts fashioned, along with a rack to hang a board if need be. The man himself had a sword casually hanging off his belt, despite seemingly being dressed in nightwear.

Cassima nodded to Saki in response to her saying that she won't take no for an answer. Fortunately they won't be interrogating him...At least, not outside the house. As he let the two girls in, Cassima went into the house. Although she was weary that he might do something...Dangerous.

As she entered, Cassima nodded to the other man before following the first one into the living room, noticing how fortified this place is.

"Huh, it looks like your house must of been through a lot to make it fortified." Cassima said to the man as she looked around for a chair to sit on.

So she and Saki can begin...The questioning.

Saki regarded the appearance of the house carefully. Cassima had already gone on and mentioned how odd it was his place was so fortified and how it might relate to what he had gone through.

"A lot like attacks from a monster perhaps?" Saki added.

She'd pick up her pace so she could be at the same speed Varric was walking.

"So what exactly can you tell us about the attacks? Did you witness any?"

The man looked back grimly at there questions, but shook his head wildly. They were guessing wrong..."Its none of that." He sat down heavily in his living room and gestured to a few chairs he'd dragged out. "It's a monster attack I'm afraid of, but none has happened to this home yet. Preventative yeah?"

He shifted over, taking a sip from a cup on a nearby table.

"I'm forgetting manners, sorry. Did you two need anything?" There was a nervous countenance to him. He clearly wanted to tell them what they asked and boot them out, but the man was desperately trying to hold onto his sanity.

"Aye, I witnessed an attack. In Toiyan." He shifted. "It's on the border of Aldmerrow, a small town, barely noticeable." He gulped hard. "Was a hunter there by trade." He paused and suddenly leaned forward. "I saw it. A small spindly beast. Ran on all fours. Let out an unearthly howl before tearing into a man not twenty feet away. He was on the outskirts for some reason. I was off the road, been tracking some pest that had been plaguing the city." He shivered. "The thing tore him apart within seconds and seemed to notice when I drew my bow. It ran off and disappeared just as quick as it came."

His eyes grew wide. "Tell me, have you heard of the Grim Caravan?" It was a strange tangent, but it seemed he would speak no further until he got his answer.

"Looks like it." Cassima agreed with Saki. Even if the man said that it was a monster attack he was afraid of and not because he had to fortify the house because they kept attacking his house.

Cassima remained quiet as she did what the man gestured her to do and pulled up one of the chairs so Cassima could sit near the man as he explained about what he had witnessed the monster did. It appeared that he witnessed the attack in Toiyan, which gave her and Saki another town to visit if there was any witnesses.

"No thanks, please go on." Cassima said to the man.

But then he mentioned something called a Grim Caravan.

"No, what is that?" She said, looking interested at the hinged mans story as she waited to explain what the Grim Caravan was to her and Saki.

Saki, for once, was quiet as she listened to the man speak. Since Cassima was already spearheading the questions, she could take a backseat and just listen.

With her hands behind her head, she listened as he mentioned the Grim Caravan. Instead of the seriousness that Cassima displayed, her ears perked up.

"Oooh, no I haven't!" she said. "But it sounds epic! What is it? Is it a bunch of creepy people we get to beat up? Is it a band of misfits that hunt down beasts an kick their butts?"

If Lyon was with him, this would have been the time Saki got the signature head bop for not knowing how to read a room. Unfortunately, no one was going to keep her in check now lest Cassima knew to bonk her on the head as well.