(Budding Thorns) Searching for Billy

[Ingrid]

"Well. This is... ah..."

Ingrid is lost for words. Taking hold of the following pause, the Darkling stares at the veritable wonderland while drawing on her Contract of Dreams. With luck, she could make some sense of the chaos.

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-01-26 21:21:00		Ingrid for Dreams 1 rolls 7 to Intelligence + Wyrd (10 Again, WillPower)		9, 10, 6, 3, 2, 1, 8, 6		3 successes

"So. These all yours, then? Where would he be in here, do you think?"

No reason why the pair might not have had a favoured spot within this part of the Hedge, given the variety. She cast her eyes over the multiple paths that seemed to lead deeper into the Thorns - really hoping they didn't have to venture too far.

"You really know how to pick a good spot. The pair of you must have put in a lot of work here."

Ingrid turned at last to Katie, smiling once more. The Darkling held off for the moment, not willing to call out needlessly; not until Katie had confirmed that her brother was not close by.

[Circe]

"Makin' it yer place," Circe nodded in approval, "good job." Praise was good for kids, or something like that right? Circe laughs loudly when Katie explains the pun to Sasha, "If ya laugh hard enough it can be true Katie," Circe was starting to like this kid. "Ya know what kid?"

When Katie responds Circe just says, "I love a pun. Rhymes with fun. So feel free to lay in the jokes as ya tell us about yer bro," she nods her head to Ingrid, "I'll catch it all, my ears are sharp," as she said this the elf proceeded to tap the points of her elongated ear helices, "or at least pointy."

Despite the jovial speech, Circe kept an eye on the shifting Hedge. Just because the kid was making the place look fun didn't mean it was safe. She'd keep watch for targets.

  3 suxx to see stuff

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-01-26 23:31:08		Circe rolls 6 to Perception (10 Again)		6, 3, 10, 4, 9, 9, 6		3 successes

[Travisc06489]

Like thoughts filtered through the haze of a particularly bad hangover, Ingrid slowly becomes aware of the true nature of this pocket of the Hedge. The four of them are in the vicinity of a Trod, ripe for the harvesting. Yet that can only spell danger for children toying with the magics of the Fae. What's more, images of strange, aweful looking creatures flash through her mind. Like revolting hybrids of bat and spider, the furry little beasts sport many eyes and jointed legs lined with webbing. And with sudden clarity, she's quite sure that venturing beyond the perimeter of this child's playland will only push further and further into places barely safe to pass through without brushing through Thorns.

Katie looks quite pleased with herself, and can't seem to stop grinning - despite being posed with a question she doesn't look like she can answer. "Maybe? I dunno... last time I was here I checked all the forts and treehouses. Sometimes we play hide-and-seek." With the childlike ability to cycle through emotions on a whim, her face scrunches up into a scowl. "If he's just hiding from me I'm gonna be soo mad!"

Fortunately for the girl's sensitivities, Circe doesn't give her long to fester on the thought. She covers her mouth again to cover a giggle. "Yeah. I tickled Billy so bad once he peed his pants!" Then, taking the bait she asks "What?"

She grins mischievously. "I'll say." she says, taking a gander at the elf-girls ear tips.

It doesn't take long for Circe to locate all the hiding spots Katie mentioned. Sasha, too, can see that there are a triad of tree forts arranged in a large triangle (how else?) in the center of the clearing. Ringing one edge of the kids' spot are a number of partially connected tent-like tunnels made of sheets draped over hanging branches. And right smack at the center, near a collection of pillows stacked into a lumpy igloo shape, is the fire-pit - hosting a few dying embers from a fire.

An ever-so-faint sound catches Circe's pointed ears: a high pitched screech coming from somewhere beyond the safety of the Hollow. Katie doesn't seem to notice. She's too busy basking in all the attention she's receiving. "It's ok, I still like you." she tells Sasha.

"We could see if my doofas brother is trying to win hide-and-seek again. If you think he's still here somewhere." Her eyes, innocent, defer to the three adults on that one.

[Ingrid]

"Right then," Ingrid said, beaming and bringing her hands together. Behind the jovial facade the Darkling is worried. Dark things with many eyes and chittering mouth parts press at the edge of her consciousness. And this was a Trod. An open, unguarded, Trod. Too many variables, none of them good.

The children's safe place... Was not safe.

"Maybe you should call out a bit. You know... I don't think he knows us. But he'll know you. You can, like, let him know we're okay. And if that doesn't work we can look around a bit. Because... He's a boy. He'll think it funny to see us running around and stuff. Looking for him. I mean we got a secret weapon to find him, right? We got you. And I bet you know all his tricks."

One step at a time. Ingrid did not want to scare Katie; the kid had enough just dealing with the changes to herself and her brother. And the situation that caused it.

When she got the chance and Katie wasn't looking, the Darkling attempted to convey the precarious position by facial gesture and body language alone.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-02 02:43:08		Ingrid to pass on "feels" rolls 6 to Manipulation + Empathy (10 Again)		2, 6, 9, 5, 7, 10, 5		2 successes

[Circe]

Circe's right ear visibly twitches, the elf turning her head to look into the Thorns. Her ears bounce as she glares at where she thinks the noise came from, one hand back inside her jacket. Circe had a premonition that the sound wasn't Billy, but could've attracted him.

Unless the kid was getting eaten in which case that could be him. "Damn me having good ears," there was no amusement in her words. This place wasn't safe. No guard, barrier, or anything else to keep things out.

  Focus didn't help

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-03 08:25:41		Circe rolls 9 to Perception (10 Again, WillPower)		5, 7, 6, 10, 2, 7, 5, 10, 2, 5, 1		2 successes

"Katie? Ya have any idea what is around yer little fluffy fortress? Cause I thought I heard somethin' screechy over yonder," she points with her free hand to where she is glaring, "and I wonder what it could be. Is yer bro adventurous enough ta explore?"

She wasn't about to mention her thought on how Billy could've made the noise. Cross that sad bridge if they found it. The elf crossed her fingers that they'd get lucky and the boy had got himself a puppy thing if he did leave.

[Travisc06489]

OK, yeah. He is kinda shy..." Katie cups her hands around her mouth and takes a deep breath - then stops. Her hands drop back to her sides and she looks a little less certain. "He probably won't answer. If he's hiding. Plus, look!" Large, round eyes have found the smoldering remains of a campfire, she she points in that direction for everyone to see. Before she deigns to explain herself, she picks up her feet and scuttles over closer to the fire. "Billy woulda made that fire. He can do that now. Its pretty cool."

This time, almost certainly, Circe pick up on the screech again. Faint, still, but animal and high pitched. If Billy is even capable of making such a noise, he's changed much more than Katie described. Katie, looking at Circe now, plays with a strand of her hair in thought. "He knows better than to go out there. There's spider-bats and pokey Thorns." She lets out an involuntary shudder. "He's gotta be here, somewhere." she says, with all the certainty of youth.

"Uh huh." the girl pipes back at Sasha. When we found it, it was just scary woods. We were exploring under the bridge and Billy fell in. I had to go save him, so I jumped in too." She pouts a little. "He was hiding from me. In the back of that tree." The young girl points again, this time to one of the three trees topped by treefort. "I think the hole is still there."

[Circe]

Spider bats? The elf was pretty sure even a kid's cartoon couldn't make that combination come out cuddly. "Alright, good then. Glad he ain't gone past yer protective wards," the elf tried to sound confident. She still was thinking that Billy could have been stupid. Circe had no idea how effective a pillow would be against intrusion, but this was the Hedge so screw logic.

As Katie explained how she and her brother found the Hollow, Circe nodded in approval "Brave of you Katie. Lets check out Billy's hole then." With that, the elf strides over to the tree Katie is pointing at. On the way, she digs out a flashlight, clicking it on as she points it into the hole, "Yo Billy? Ya in there?"

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-05 21:57:39		Circe rolls 6 to Perception again (10 Again)		4, 5, 3, 9, 4, 5		1 success

"Could we try bribing Billy with offers to buy a pie or somethin' like that Katie?"

[Ingrid]

Ingrid breathed.

"Spider bats? That... That doesn't sound pleasant. That explains what I felt earlier... They're... ah... prowling."

She eyed the Thorns dubiously, more for Katie's benefit than the rest of them. The girl wasn't a pawn or Loyalist, then - they'd have stayed quiet on what lay beyond the wonderland glade.

Circe made the first move, heading straight for the hidey hole Katie had identified. Ingrid changed tack, turning her attention on the little campfire. Trusting her own hard earned hedge-craft, the Darkling checked out the fire for clues (including gauging the fire's residual heat to narrow down the time it had been left neglected).

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-07 02:47:14		Ingrid to study the fire for clues rolls 5 to Wits + Survival (10 Again)		2, 10, 8, 3, 5, 6		2 successes

Once she had turn that, Ingrid started combing the area for clues - not the ad hoc poking around that most people did. Oh no, this Darkling was a P.I. when she wasn't directing the Freehold. So she studied the area like it was one of her crime scenes, applying what training and experience she had as a professional to the problem at hand.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-07 02:48:06		Ingrid to examine the area for clues rolls 5 to Wits + Investigation (10 Again)		2, 2, 7, 6, 4		failure

Pity none of that training had covered the riotous and maddening nature of the Hedge.