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Post by panther on Aug 16, 2009 16:02:16 GMT -5
She was pregnant, so very heavily pregnant, she was due to drop within the next two sevendays. Ijae was pure excited for this child, he, or she would be the founding basis for her newly fledged marriage to Pofre, the only thing that was irking her, would be quite as to what they would call their first born.
Pojae, or Ifre – likely Ifre. Ifre was the only sensible choice. And what did she wish for gender wise? She hoped for a boy. For a girl would not be able to take on Po’s workshop. Po kept a small woodcafting workshop. He was so proud. He made small toys and a few other things that were beautiful for their waiting child.
The night had drawn in, and she hadn’t noticed, she’d left the company of her friends late, they’d offered to walk her home, because of the murder, but she hastened to add, that last time, the murder had been indoors, and in the center of the hold, not only this, but she only lived about four hundred yards down the street, though, she found herself dawdling and spinning so her skirts would twirl beautifully about her. She was in such a level of bliss. Her entire existence could not be spoiled by this babe that weighted heavy in her bloated stomach.
She giggled mirthfully, Looking at the stars in the sky, happy and euphoric with the wonder that was Pern. The streets were lit only by window glow light, and the stars above, few shadows lingered, but the wind was strong enough, it whipped through her dress. But her happiness kept her warm. She was so happy with life as it.
How could anything ruin this experience for her?
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Post by Marnark’tranarprol on Aug 16, 2009 16:09:34 GMT -5
Crouched between a pair of buildings, Lask watched with mild amusement as the gravid woman twirled in the streets, slowly ever so slowly making her way along, across the way. On guard yet again, the green wher was holding perfectly still at the moment, waiting. Hers was inside one of the buildings, visiting a privy. So Lask waited ... and watched. And so amused and delighted she was, she shared the images of the happy, blissful woman with hers, never minding what she was interrupting.
Sitting on Lask's head, Lennier was blinking sleepily. Flitters weren't supposed to be nocturnal, but the flitter was trying hard to stay awake when his pets were awake. In such a dreary, sleepy state, he didn't even see the woman at all. So the image of her popping into his head, in wher-vision, startled the flitter in an awkward squeak and wakefulness. What? What? Oh ...
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Post by Masque on Aug 16, 2009 17:13:39 GMT -5
They stayed in the shadows, watching closefully. Detail was everything, you see. One wrong move and everything would be messed up – this was delicate work. They could see the green wher in the corner of their eye and watched the beast carefully. That ugly creature could ruin everything. They didn’t move, barely breathing before watching as the wher finally lumbered off.
It seemed like it took forever.
Finally though, the wher was gone. Continuing on so they could go and guard; security had been boosted quite a bit since Perina’s death. That was to be expected but it was still an annoyance.
They had spent the last few days in hiding, scolding themselves ferociously. How could they be so dumb! Leaving the knife embedded in that sharding drudge. It was a good knife, one of the best ones they had – sharp enough to cut through anything.
Flesh, bones and more.
They let out a small sigh. There wasn’t much that could be done now. And at least they had more knives, one had to plan for missing items. A knife here, a glove there. Thankfully, like their weapon, they had another pair of gloves. Fingers grabbed the end of the material and slid them onto their hands. This time they wouldn’t leave a glove behind – they were rather expensive to keep buying. Gloves now fully on, grasping the hilt of the knife to make sure they didn’t drop it.
The slightest noise would give everything away.
They walked quietly, they considered themselves to be some what of an expert now. The woman in front of them was rather…dim, to put it lightly. Waltzing around at night as if there was nothing going on in Caspian Hold. She was practically begging to be killed off, giggling while completely unaware of the fact that tonight would be the last night she would see the stars.
They walked slowly behind the woman, wrapping their arms around her for a second. A hug. A deathly embrace. Hand raised, sharp metal kissed the skin of the woman’s throat. With one sweep of the arm, it was over.
Skin was cut; blood was already seeping out of the deep cut. Necks bled easily and quickly – she stood no chance. They stood for a second, admiring their handiwork since they weren’t able to last time. A sickening grin on their face before heels turned and they walked off, disappearing as the night enveloped them.
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Post by Akki on Aug 16, 2009 17:38:45 GMT -5
Ooc|| Say this is about an hour after the murderrr
Tap tap tap tap tap
That was the sound of tiny little nails clacking against the ground. A small furry body seemed to dart around the main square, sniffing everything he could. Every now and then he would pause; a bug on the ground that would catch his interest. Kanor had gotten away on his owner; the prospect of a brand new home was too exciting for him. He ignored the whistles and calls to come, a white streak dashing down the halls and into the square.
He was contently gnawing on a stick that he found on the ground, beady black eyes concentrating on the object. He dropped the branch though when suddenly a gust of hot air was on his back. The tunnelcat turned only to stare at a large wher snout. He chattered happily, recognizing the bronze hide in front of him.
Ejinsk had slowly lumbered after the tunnelcat. It took him a bit to reach the white creature, who was quite quick on his feet but he had found him now. The bronze wher snorted, nudging the tunnelcat The large wher nudged the tunnelcat slightly before freezing up.
The smell of blood. And not just a small bit either, lots of it.
He turned away from Kanor, lumbering quickly around the main square before stopping in front of a woman. Her throat had been slashed, eyes open as they stared at the ground. Ejinsk backed up slightly, turning his head behind him. Ejinic was still in the corridors, slowly catching up with his wher and his pet. He was taking his time though, until one word popped into his head.
Come. The wher said to his bonded.
Ejinsk rarely ever talked. Ejinic could count on his fingers how many times he had heard the large bronze say something. This meant something was up. His walking pace quickened and within seconds he was there beside his beast, staring at the dead woman. “Oh. Oh Faranth.” He breathed, staring at the grisly sight before him. She looked untouched, he had been the first to stumble upon the body. He had to find someone, the Lord Holder, quickly and tell them. “Go ahead of me Ejinsk, look for someone important.”
The wher rumbled before taking off, heavily running into the darkness. He was long gone now, Ejinic wouldn't be able to catch up unless the wher slowed his pace which was doubtful. The man turned and followed, his pace quick but steady as Kanor ran after his heels. They needed to find someone and quick. Of course it didn’t even occur to Ejinic that this probably looked might suspicious, someone unknown strolling around the Hold at night.
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Post by Marnark’tranarprol on Aug 16, 2009 18:18:56 GMT -5
Lask headed back through the hold, this time with a sleeping flitter on her head. Following along behind her at a much more sedate pace, this time, was Laier. Properly releived, she was back on duty and making another circuit of her patrol. Somewhere along the way, she'd managed to loose Fyg and her wher ... likely had a lot to do with the wher being brown, and the privvy stop. Oh well.
Lask stopped at the edge of the square so suddenly that Lennier tumbled off her head and splatted on the stone under her snout. The poor thing was so tired and sleepy that he never noticed, though, merely going on sleeping with only a grunt upon landing, sprawled awkwardly on the stone. Lask sniffed a few times at the air, and then at the stone at her feet. Smelling the metallic tang of blood, her eyes took on a worried color as she looked around in the darkness. Spotting the shape on the ground across the way, she carefully stepped over and past Lennier to venture cautiously into the square. Hopefully, it was just a drunk collapsed on the way home. But that wouldn't explain the tang ... unless they bashed thier head on something.
Lask reached the body about the time Laier made the square, and stopped to check make sure Lennier was still alive, laying on the ground like that. Lask gave it one tentative sniff, eyes narrowing, before her head snapped up and around to see someone running away as fast as they could go.
MURDER! the normally silent wher roared upon the hold, to anyone that was not dragon-deaf, making sure to put enough omph behind it to reach Danask. Turning on a hind foot, the fleet green took off after the running figure, bound and determined to catch what she perceived was the murderer. She roared, a shutter-rattling sound that would have awoken anyone sleeping in the nearby vicinity.
Laier jumped to her feet, flitter dangling from one hand at the shout from her wher, startled to the point of feeling her heart stop and cram itself into her throat. OH NO. Numbly, she stared in shock as her wher took off running. After what, she couldn't tell ... she couldn't see as well as her wher could, in the darkness. Though she could see better than most other humans.
Breaking out of her shock, she ran to the nearest door, and beat on it. "Torches! We need torches! There's been a killing!"
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Post by panther on Aug 16, 2009 18:32:42 GMT -5
Danae had been patrolling too, she and Alder had taken the outskirts of the Hold, and Laier and Fyg the inner. But the alarm had been raised. Danask Bellowed loudly, calling again in a loud way to any and all that would hear it, alarms now raised in every sense of the word. Torches became flamed, warning bells tolled and an eery silence crept over the sleeping town behind that dull toll of bells.
Then riot called.
Lask calls
They’ve found something? She cursed aloud and began running in the direction of the main hold Square – where she knew Lask and company should be. Danae was breathing heavily, worried. She pulled a short knife loose from it’s holster, so it could be easily pulled but would not fall when she ran.
“Alder! Come on! There’s murder been called out at the main square. “Hurry!” She called. Danask loped along side her, not straying far from her handler, eyes swirling with anxiety fear and excitement. The wher sniffed the air for every step they took, trying to place the scent of blood, and angling Danae towards the point she expected it to be.
She held her coat tighter about her as she ran, hair tied back from her face, trying not to let it get in her way this night. Tonight was not about prettiness, it was practicality, and Danask even had tack up on her, incase Danae needed to make a quick Wher dash to somewhere specific. But this far? There had been no call.
The last murder was possibly two sevendays ago. Why would the killer wait so long? Normally she would ask questions, but between Lask and Danask, it was likely not a good idea, they seemed to interpret each others pigeoned speech quite poorly, especially when things were so tense.
She slowed as the began to approach the scene, allowing Danask and Aldesk a chance to search the place thoroughly. Make certain that the scent of blood was not moving, because if it was, the murderer was close by.
Danae relied on her knowledge of the hold, and upon the nose of her wher- along with her own impaired eyesight. Sure she was adapted to the night, but it didn’t make her infallible. She began to listen harder, search harder with her eyes and her sense of smell.
Close. Foreign smell not home.
Danask had caught the smell of something, Danae pulled her knife, waiting for her other handlers to come to back her up, Danask would be able to track it now she had the scent. Easy as a bloody wherry.
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Post by Akki on Aug 16, 2009 18:49:15 GMT -5
Running to find someone to inform them about the murder seemed like a great idea.
At the time.
Now it seemed like the worst idea possible. There were shouts, screams for torches and declarations of murder coming from everywhere. Ejinic had wanted to simply help out, get the poor woman some justice even. He didn’t expect a large roar of murder to enter his head and then to see a large beast come charging after him when he turned his head. Ahh, this was not a nice way to spend the night.
You couldn’t outrun a wher. It just simply wasn’t possible but to be honest, Ejinic didn’t really want to slow down. If that wher thought he was the murderer, it could take him down without a word of protest. He had limited options it seemed. Kanor, on the otherhand, believed that he had limitless options.
The stupid tunnelcat had stopped moving, turned to face the wher with all his hair stuck up as he chittered loudly. The small critter stood no chance against the green that was hurtling their way. Ejinic quickly turned around, knelt on one knee and scooped up Kanor – cradling the creature against his chest. He was partially expecting an impact – a huge one as the green collided into him but instead he felt a gust of wind on his back. He looked up and saw that another wher had joined.
But this wher wasn’t going after Ejinic, but instead standing in front of him with a loud bellow, followed by snarls. Ejinsk stared at the green, teeth bared. No one was going to touch His! It was well known that whers were protective of their bonded –Ejinsk was proving this now. If that green came any closer, there would be a clash of whers on the Hold’s hands.
“Took you long enough, Ejinsk.”
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Post by panther on Aug 17, 2009 5:32:08 GMT -5
Danask grunted, Hurry, follow she lowered her head and lead into a loping stride, Danae shook her head and began running again – she hated running so very much. But there was no choice right now. The prospective of what she would see at the end would be even more scary than what she might face here.
And as they rounded a corner, things became apparent. Laier and Lask were the other side of the road, a small following of people with torches behind them. Closer to Danae was a man, standing with something held in his grasp. She prayed silently it wasn’t a severed limb or she might vomit. And closer still? A Wher. A Bronze Wher.
But, there was only one bronze wher in Caspian. That was Aldesk – who should be following right up behind them.
Before her, Danask had placed her sizeable bulk, hunkered low, and looking scarily intimidating. Danae drew her knife – little use that it would be with Danask before her, but better safe than sorry.
“I’d chose not to fight if I were you” She called – with a perfect tone of strength that she completely didn’t feel. And as though to bolster her comment, Danask growled in a low and incredibly threatening manner.
Romeo was silent (for a change) simply because he was keeping eyes from above. Watching the scene.
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Post by Shekru on Aug 17, 2009 9:49:12 GMT -5
Out on the grounds, taking advantage of a night off from guard duty, the brown pair hurtled toward the Hold. Silent, four feet carrying six, Fyg rode atop the brown's shoulders with ease and came quickly upon the sight of a foreign bronze and Danask in a defensive posture. From where she and Fygwesk stood, they were diagonal to Ejinsk's backside, and the brown handler barked, "You! Bronze Handler! Bring yourself and your bonded to me. The Queen is on business and you are interfering!" Her tone was nearly militant, and the wild look in her brass eyes meant -business-.
Fygwesk's eyes whirled yellow-orange and his own posture looked tense beneath his riding Handler. He was wary of the new bronze, but knew, as well as His, that the time for introductions was not yet upon them. Come. Friendly. Bad things happen, Queen must see. Is not you they hunt, is Bad Thing. Come.[/b]
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Post by Xennai on Aug 17, 2009 13:19:53 GMT -5
Alder had been expecting something like this but a sevenday ago and not tonight. Guard duty had settled agreeably over him, surprisingly. No longer were he and Aldesk rolling around, rampant, doing what they liked. They were doing what Aldesk had been made for--guarding. And as the bronze's handler, it was ingrained in Alder just the same.
He heard the cries, the bellows, the warnings and ice seemed to settle over him. There was a quick, sharp dread and then anger. The ice still remained, the fear that it was someone he knew, the fear that it was a friend. That was all gone in a moment, even feelings outstripped as they began to ran, running from the outskirts to the inner sanctuary of the Hold, Alder easily keeping pace with Danae though he hung back. Aldesk would not be as fast at the first as Danask and it would be only proper that the Queen pair came first.
It was minutes later that they came on to the scene of the commotion. Lask standing at point before a bronze wher and a man, holding something in his arms. Fyg saying that the bronze pair--he'd arrived to the conclusion that it was a handler and his wher--was to step aside, that they were a deterance to the hunt. Alder glanced sidelong as Danae drew her knife and called out to the handler. He stepped, stepping forward, Aldesk tight at his side. The bronze was not happy that his handler was imposing himself where two whers were about to rip one another's throats out.
Alder stepped away from Danae and Fyg, slightly closer to the green wher and the new arrival. Voice was pitched loud. As he turned to the bronze pair. "Get your bronze to back down and we will speak. Quickly. We've a hunt to make and don't have the time for dilly-dallying." He turned to look back at Fyg and Danae. A curious change had come about his face. Alder, ever the flirt and quick to make a joke, was hard-eyed and serious. There was a gravity that clung to him. There had been murder done here. This was no time for laughing. "We know that this man and the bronze wher are indeed bonded, but we don't know that they are completely innocent." Though he faced Danae and Fyg, he seemed to be speaking more with the brown handler. "It will eat at our time, but we must question him. For all we know, the murderer stands here." And Alder stayed where he was, halfway between the brown and gold and the bronze and green. For once, in some of their minds he was sure, he was thinking with the head that sat on his shoulders.
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Post by Marnark’tranarprol on Aug 17, 2009 21:47:52 GMT -5
Lask skidded to a halt at the last moment when a wher much more massive than her suddenly appeared between her and her prey. Crouching low to the ground, she lashed her tail back and forth with massive aggitation, growling. Despite being so much smaller than the bronze before her, she did not back down an inch.
Murder. Stranger. Running away. Murder! Killer! Kill! Kill! She ranted, angrily, gnashing her teeth over her growl. It was not entirely clear if she was merely degenerating her statement in over simplification, or if she was actually stating her desire to kill the man on the other side of the bronze before her.
She crabstepped sideways, hindquarters swinging farther than her forequarters as she started an attempt to circle around the bronze. Mad she might be, but stupid she wasn't. Being at the business end of a bronze was not the most intelligent place to be. After all.
Behind her, back in the square, Laier had managed to get her hands on a torch, and was back at the fallen body of the woman killed. She held a hand over her mouth for a moment, before shaking her head slowly. "Brutal." She muttered, sadly. "She was even with child ... what kind of sensless ...
Admin's Note:[/hr]!" Laier gagged for a moment, and turned away momentarily, crushing her eyes closed.
She did not, and would not, touch the body. People would want the clues all left unmarred. She even carefully kept her boot toes out of the pooled blood.
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Post by Akki on Aug 17, 2009 22:26:16 GMT -5
More whers were gathering, Ejinsk’s nerves were building as he continued to swivel his head to stare at everyone. Snarls were still coming from his mouth; Ejinic frowned as he looked over to where Danae stood. He lifted his hands into the air, palms open. Well, at least one was since the other one was holding Kanor’s long, wriggling body. “Believe me, I don’t want to fight one bit.” Ejinic said quickly. Fighting? No thanks!
Within moments, another wher joined the kerfuffle. A brown and his Wherhandler, who immediately began barking orders at him. To be honest Ejinic wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to head over to the woman…she seemed quite scary. Ejinsk swiveled his head so he could stare at the brown, snarls still coming out of his mouth. The snarls quieted a bit though as Fygwesk sent some broken words his way. Ejinsk stared at the brown before replying, with images instead of something verbal. Flashes of arriving at Caspian, of following Kanor into the square and of stumbling across the body.
Not us. Three words in one day? For Ejinsk, this was definitely a record. Then again the pair had never found themselves in a situation quite like this before. Soon as those words were sent, another bronze entered the scene. Ejinic shook his head slightly at Alder’s words, “Believe me, I’m not trying to cause any sort of ruckus.” Ohh dear. How was he going to explain this?
He frowned, trying to think of where to begin when Ejinsk open and closed his jaws, a threatening gesture aimed at the green who was circling them. “Ejinsk, please.” The wherhandler sighed desperately. The beast settled down but kept his eyes locked on the green wher. Ejinic took his eyes off of his wher so he could make eye contact with Danae, bowing his head slightly.
“We arrived from the Hall at Benden. A friend of mine lives here and sent me a letter asking me to come, said that the new Wher Hall here needed some other people. We arrived just a bit ago and Kanor,” He lifted the tunnelcat slightly, “Ran to the square. Ejinsk followed and stumbled upon the woman and called me. We were heading off to find someone to tell them about the murder.” He explained. Unfortunately for him his dear friend Terwin wasn’t at Caspian Hold that night – the advisor had plans of visiting nearby holds and weyrs to tell them to be on the lookout. Ejinic wouldn’t have anyone to vouch for him.
“The edge of the blood. It’s starting to dry already which means the murder was probably an hour or so ago. We hadn’t arrived here yet, I swear.”
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Post by panther on Aug 19, 2009 16:04:43 GMT -5
Danae listened to the entire goings on, her eyes narrowing, suspicious of this odd wher handler she didn’t know. And his words were incredibly.
The bronze had spoken to Danask, and Danae by reference. Wher’s didn’t often lie, it was rare for a wher to get confused by their bonded. But atleast the man was showing respect towards her, and so he should! She was the Gold Handler! It was to be expected (though, she didn’t look at it as standard these days). At least he showed some sense of decorum, and truthfully? In her quick synopsis of him, she hadn’t spotted any blood, and he wasn’t carrying anything that looked dangerous – not that that didn’t mean he couldn’t have thrown it away.
“Laier, your’s seems determined that this man was seen with the corpse.” It was a statement angled at the green handler, but it was as much a question, despite the fact that she knew the answer. The man smelled of blood, Danask told her so.
“Who’s your friend, Culprit? And What’s your name, bonded of Ejinsk.”
She turned to Alder, “We can’t afford this time, if he’s not the murderer, Alder, can I trust that you’ll take the girls, and cover the rest of the hold as swiftly as possible? Send Loki and Iago out as eyes, Fyg, send Faust, and Laier? Send Lennier, I’ll send Romeo,” She angled glances to them respectively as she ordered. “And I know Flitter’s aren’t adept to the dark – but any extra pair of eyes at this moment is worth it. Call for Hester, she doesn’t live far from here, she can get Terwin, they’ll want to question him, I’m sure. I’ll keep several of the Guard around” She beckoned a few out from crowd controlling, a few faces, they wouldn’t be able to suppress the Bronze, but they might be able to suppress the handler if needs be, and Danask could cope with a Bronze. Easily. So, it felt like her decision was level headed.
“Now, if you don’t mind? Go, try and find something, anything. As fast as possible, and sound the alarm if you need help.” She turned her attention to some of the guard who had turned up to scout, “You! Take the road south of here, sweep it, make sure there’s no one around. You, northern,” She barked her orders in a way that actually made her sound confident in her abilities to command.
She glared at the new handler, watching him, waiting for something, some movement, but everything seemed suspended, as though they didn’t know whether to obey her, or jut stand and watch.
“Not later, NOW! GO!” She sounded fierce, much beyond her small stature. And suddenly? A corresponding flurry of activity and obedience. She felt a small weight lift from her heart but continued to eye him carefully.
Danask stepped down from full guard level, and closed the distance between herself and the new bronze. The new male surely wouldn’t dare attack her, but then, her arrogance was astounding at times. The golden wher’s eyes were a flurry with colours she sniffed the air immediately around Ejinisk.
smell is passing. Not stained.
What do you mean?
blood is passing, not stained, like kill.
Fantastic.
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Post by Akki on Aug 24, 2009 18:50:31 GMT -5
Ejinic stayed kneeled, lightly scratching his whers eye ridges in an attempt to calm the bronze beast – something, anything to distract him. The man cocked his head to the side slightly, a hint of a smile on his face.
“It seems you already know of my friend.” He laughed softly, caught a bit off guard. While Terwin was in fact his friend, Ejinic didn’t really know what he did at the Hold – the topic simply never came up when they talked. Maybe it was Terwin’s way to forget about the duties of an advisor for just a few moments. “His name is Terwin.” He finished, his small smile turning into a frown. There was a rather large age difference between the advisor and the wherhandler; would they believe that they were friends?
Ejinic let out a small sigh and placed his forehead lightly on Ejinsk’s snout, “Seems like we came here on a bad day.” The bronze rumbled an agreement, so much for a casual relaxing introduction.
The pair watched as Danae barked out orders; who knew a loud voice could come from such a small lady? It was actually a rather scary sight to behold. He stood and stuck out his hand, “Ejinic and, as said, he is Ejinsk.” His hand stayed there for a second before being slowly withdrawn, “Ah, maybe not the best time to shake hands actually.” He was being held as a murder suspect after all.
Ejinsk watched carefully as Danask approached and stuck his head out a little further, sniffing the air around her in return. He looked at Ejinic, flashing images of Benden Wher Hall. The bronze was suddenly missing his home it seemed, not used to these surroundings or the situation they were in.
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Post by Marnark’tranarprol on Aug 26, 2009 14:14:29 GMT -5
Laier was too far away to hear anything that Danae said, being still by the body of the slain woman. Getting a grip on herself, she swallowed and pushed back to her feet. "Someone get some more torches. And no body touch the body or even get near it! We don't need what evidence we've got disturbed." she said, ordering the holders that were gathered near in lieu of Danae's presence.
And where was Lask ...
Admin's Note:[/hr] The Wher had gone ripping off after something, hadn't she? Laier reached out to her wher's mind, to see what was going on. At which point she learned through Lask that most of the Hold's whers were all in the same space ... with a strange wher.
Laier growled under her breath ... idiot idiot idiot. They didn't need that kind of forces all in the same spot, where the murderer wasn't! Lask! Make a circuit of the Hold, FIND THAT TRAIL.[/b] She ordered, knowing well that her little green was fast and slick on her feet.
Near the rest, Lask grumbled and growled, shifting her feet. She didn't want to leave the spot ... not since she'd seen this man fleeing the scene. But there did seem to be enough people and whers around to handle the situation without her. Seen. Him. Running from body. She told Danask, before turning on a hind foot and shooting off into the darkness to make a lap or three around the Hold, head held low to catch any scent she could find.
If the murder had not left, and had not left a scent trail, then they were still within the Hold. And if they had left ... Lask would likely as not find that trail.
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