In My Time of Need [Ask]

Kiara couldn't believe her luck. Here she was, in this random town to make a few deliveries (and collect a specimen or two, she'd heard about beast attacks.) And boom, Expiate request falls right into her lap. The only issue was? She was a tad bit late. She'd ended up rushing into the inn, past anyone who tried to speak with her and just kinda, slipped in when some grizzled hunter walked out.

So, she tried to contain her excitement as she was told the situation. As for the questions themselves, well..."Is the fog in any way harmful? I know it's been here awhile, but there could be some long-term effects we should be aware of right? It might be slowly poisoning everyone, or weakening them. I mean if it's coming from a corrupted beast or something it's probably not good. It could just be hiding its movements, but nothing is ever that simple honestly." As Kiara rambled she swayed back and forth, obviously thinking out loud at this point. Eventually her voice dropped into a mumble, which prompted Rowan to finally speak up, more in response to Liseran than anything Kiara had just spoken.

"Bad idea. Panic spreads easier that way. It could end up making things worse. Also, individual voices tend to get lost in a crowd, we could miss something important." Having said his piece, Rowan's eyes fell to the floor once more. A beat passed and then he looked up once more. "Teams are a good idea though." And back down they went.

The officer tipped his hat, letting out a remorseful sigh.

"Wish it could be that easy," he muttered. "Panic is not a matter here. These villagers have had over a month to get used to the knowledge of all this stuff going on. And yet..."

Jinn gestured a hand towards an innworker who's been quietly dusting the shelves. The ginger officer shrugged with a disgruntled frown.

"Business as usual," he said. "This village is off the beaten path far from any major town and is older than that mountain you can see out the window. They depend on consistent exchanges with traders for their local wine in order to maintain their lives here. Much as I tried to reason with the mayor, folks here can't let up on their daily work, even for an official investigation. Not even for an hour. So, we gotta do this the hard way. For now, I'll be assigning what few official officers we on border patrol as a precaution. That's the best we can do under these circumstances."

Jinn listened to the newcomer's thoughts and nodded approvingly, shoving his hands into his coat pockets.

"The nature of the fog was the first thing I tried to check for." Jinn stated. He fished out something from his pocket and placed it on the table. A glass beaker with a little water inside? "Alchemy is not my strong suit, but with this much I can confirm nothing is mixed in with the fog in particular. Sadly neither I nor any of the officers here are able to perform magical forensics. You'll have to check with the locals to see if you can identify anything that seems off."

"Now if there's nothing else, please begin the investigation. Due to the mismatch of our little group here, I saw it fit to allow for individual action. If you believe you would prefer to work with someone else, feel free to do so. Remember, we need to gather information before we can decide on any actions, however the safety of the villagers are top priority. Regardless of your place in life, this is an official Expiate mission. Please act accordingly."

Just then, someone else came into the study, a man in a suit carrying a briefcase. He had a curled mustache and combed head of hair. He wore the Expiate symbol on his left breast.

"Ah! Another officer!" Jinn exclaimed excitedly, approaching the groomed man. "Thank you for coming short notice. Please, what are your skillsets and-"

"I'm afraid you're mistaken," the man cut Jinn off, holding up his hand. "I am not a field agent. I am with the upper offices."

Jinn visibly flinched back and quietly slumped down as if all his energy had been drained for his upper body. "I see..."

"Making an official Expiate request and calling in citizen volunteers is not proper format, officer Jinn," the man said sternly. "Regardless of your position, there is an order to things in our organization. You should've went through the proper channels and patiently awaited official approval and dispatch"

"This is a bit of an emergency..." Jinn muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "For this to go on for over a month, I thought we needed to act immediately. Otherwise it could risk an extreme incident-"

"And you also had other, very important, business to attend to," the suited man stated. He glanced briefly at Liseran before turning back to Jinn. "The commander would not be pleased about this."

"Please overlook this for a bit, okay?" Jinn begged, clapping his hands together and bowing. "I'll proceed with the escort once this wraps up. I can't possibly continue if these honest folk are in danger!"

The suited man glared at Jinn but slumped his shoulders and sighed. "Fine. But do attend to the proper paperwork." He held up the briefcase he was carrying to demonstrate.

Jinn's brow twitched and his smile seemed strained. "I... I see... I'll have the innkeeper brew some coffee."

"I prefer earl grey," the suited man stated before walking out the room.

"Sir...." The pink-haired officer who's been standing next to Jinn the whole time spoke up. "What are my orders?"

"Just continue what you've been doing since yesterday," Jinn said. "You won't need to handle anything else, all right?"

With that, Jinn walked out of the room to partake in paperwork hell, leaving the rest of the group to their own devices. The two field officers immediately went out to perform border patrol as they were instructed. Alice, the quiet blank-faced officer, stood quietly by holding the black case.

~~~~

Just as Jinn stated, despite the innate oddity going on, the village was continuing business as usual. Aside from the inn, there was just a town hall, some sort of dining facility, and a handful of residential houses. Judging from the number of residential homes, there couldn't be more than five or so families in this village. There was also another large building though its use isn't immediately obvious.  A little ways off the edge of the village was a farm of grapevines and berries. A handful of men were working tirelessly tending the fields. There were some women tending to a handful of sheep and others going in and out of a barn of sorts. There were probably others working within the other buildings. It was a bit off the side, but there was also what looked like a general store.

Just as Jinn explained, the villagers seemed focused on their daily lives more than they were concerned for the strange fog or the mysterious monster.

Liseran herself was going to go off on a tangent about how panic wasn't feasible considering how the village knew this knowledge already, but Jinn beat her to it. Despite her desire to gather everyone for safety, it appeared the villagers couldn't afford to, either. Liseran unfortunately couldn't make two ends about the fog either. Alchemy wasn't her strong suit. She half-wished Cassima was here because she seemed to know a bit. However, she supposed Cassima was safer where she was.

Another officer arrived shortly after Jinn prompted everyone to do their parts. It was a higher-up, but not one Liseran was particularly familiar with. When the officer glanced at Liseran, she merely turned her nose and crossed her arms in detest.

After everyone was left to their own devices, Liseran approached Jinn.

"Officer Brettman," she would say with formality. "I would like to request my weapons from the luggage. Considering we will need the manpower, it's only logical that I partake in the mission."


Meanwhile at another table, a dark-haired young woman in hunter's clothes wearing a leather cape and a black cloth mask over her eyes was enjoying a pint. She eyed Kiara and Rowan before going over. In her right hand was a bow, and in her left was her beer stein.

"Do you two reckon pairing up?" she asked before taking another sip.

"Ah." Was all Rowan said in response. It seems he was wrong about the populous. Serves him right for not being as informed as he should be. Either way it didn't matter, he wasn't really interested in what the Expiate did. They could gather to their hearts content, he would still get his answers regardless.

Though, it appeared that this whole situation wasn't above board. A superior came in and just...threw his weight around in front of the rest of the crowd. Rowan couldn't stand those types, shaming a subordinate in front of a room full of people HE was commanding no less, then threatening to report him.

He'd hoped humans would be a bit different than his own people. As the man left, Rowan noticed a bit of tension leave his body. Apparently, he'd been more annoyed than he thought by the whole display.

"I think you're doing a great job sir." Kiara had also dug herself out of her own thoughts long enough to pay attention to that exchange. She fully supported Jinn in this endeavor after all! Plus, without his meddling, she wouldn't have gotten to join an OFFICIAL Expiate quest! It was definitely her chance to prove herself!

Shortly after though, it seemed everyone was off to the races! Kiara was idling, trying to inch towards the Expiate officers and get into a group with them, while Rowan himself had just gotten up and was walking towards the door.

Fate had other plans though, as they were both addressed by a seemingly blind hunter. Rowan took her at face value, Kiara on the other hand was very obviously staring, trying to look for any kind of marks on the cloth itself.

"I had no real plans, but I don't mind." Rowan nodded and crossed his arms. "I'm Rowan Navarre, mercenary." And that was that.

Kiara remembered herself once Rowan spoke and straightened up immediately. "Oh I'm Kiara Ferro. I'm actually ah..." She began to point towards the officers sheepishly. "Spoken...for?" She took a step back, seemingly trying to inch her way out of the conversation.

"I hear what you're saying Miss Liseran, but it's out of my hands," Jinn said in a apologetic tone, tipping his hat remorsefully. "The commander gave me strict orders. Besides, you're under my protection. For now, you can just give Alice company. If there's anything you need, you can make a request to the innkeeper."

Alice stood by holding the black case like it was precious and fragile cargo, her blank face staring absently yet attentively at nothing in particular.
~~

Either not noticing or ignoring the exchange, the officers went on their way and split up, heading towards opposite ends of the village to start their patrol.

The hunter's eyes followed the Expiate officers that were quick to leave just as Kiara approached them.

"You mean by those officers that just abandoned you?" she asked plainly, tipping her stein in their direction for emphasis. "Looks like they'll be fine without you. They're officers after all. We normal have to stay together, right?"

Saying this, she smiled. While it was a soft smile, there was a hint of smugness to it. Without any warning, she'd place her gear on a bar table and place a paper, taking her pen and starting to draw.

"Since we're teammates we might as well lay out our strategy. If I draw a rough sketch of the map here, we should be good to check off the areas where the people have been interviewed and haven't been right?"

The young woman's take of action suggested she wasn't going to accept no an answer anymore for teammates.

***
Officee Jinn's remark seemed to make Liseran's cheeks puff up in irritation.

"You can't possibly think father's orders mean anything now when people are being hurt--" but Liseran didn't get to finish. As abruptly as she approached him, he left.

Liseran pursed her lips. She was not going to just sit around here and do nothing. She looked over to Alice who was sitting with the case. Liseran stared at it intently before glaring at Alice.

"You don't agree with him do you?" she asked huffily. And then looking again at the case, "And there's the slimmest chance you'll give that to me since it belongs to me, right?"

Kiara's eyes flew to the spot the officer's had been once the hunter pointed out there absence. Her shoulder's slumped considerably, her eyes dropping right to the ground. "Swear word..." She muttered, kicking the ground. She let out a melancholy sigh, only to raise a finger at the mention of "normal."

"I." She raised her head, locking eyes with the hunter. "Am the farthest thing from normal." There was a proud severity that flashed across her features as she stared the hunter down. After a beat she relaxed and grinned widely. "Okay, partners it is then."

"Great, now let's ju-" Before Rowan could continue, Kiara slapped a hand down on the map itself. "You haven't introduced yourself though, partner. I certainly don't want to keep calling you that. And I don't want to think of you as rude either!"

Rowan took two slow blinks as he stared at the two. This Kiara was going to be trouble wasn't she? He sighed and crossed his arms, looking the slightest bit annoyed at the whole situation.

"My orders are to guard the case and protect the escort," Alice said in deadpan, her eyes still looking ahead attentively. "There is no reason for you to engage on the field or to be armed."

The girl stated this as if reading from queue cards. She showed no emotion and simply held the case on her lap dutifully, staring ahead without moving from place. Even as expiate officers go, she was way too dutiful, as if every action she took had to be a direct order or part of the manual.

Welp. Someone's definitely has team spirit, the huntress thought to herself as she stared at the sharp-toothed girl.

When Kiara talked about introductions, the huntress nodded.

"Aspen," she said. "You can call me that. Nice to meet you all, 'pardners'."

She looked over to the Enkidu. "And you are?"

***

Liseran puffed her cheeks at Alice's deadpanned response. With no weapons and no charged stones, she was pretty defenseless. She didn't even have pocket money on hand to purchase any temporary weapons. Her only chance was getting that case from the girl.

Liseran examined her with crossed arms.

"Fine, be that way," she said. "But you and the Detective can't stop me from going around town for a 'leisurely stroll'."

With that, Liseran started marching out for the door.

"Nice to meet you Aspen." Not really, she wanted to meet THE OFFICERS BEHIND HER instead. It appeared she had no choice really. She'd just have to perform admirably enough to impress them then.

Rowan frowned when he was addressed. He'd already told her his name. It was the second thing he'd said. Had she not been listening? Perhaps he'd been drowned out by Kiara's whole...thing. Well, he wouldn't judge for a simple lapse in concentration. "Rowan Navarre." He paused for a moment. "As for investigations. The outskirts might be our best bet. If this thing has been moving near the town. Someone there may have seen it."

"Or, we could look for ourselves." Kiara butted in with a toothy grin. "Get some bait, lay it out and get behind some cover. We can see this thing in action. If it DOES notice us we all run like hell. Risk, reward. It's better than relying on the memory of a bunch of yokels. This thing might as well be folklore by now."