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The next morning D rose before Katrina and was sitting near the window,
looking out it as she woke. A small breakfast tray sat on the table near the bed as she sat
up slowly, stretching and yawning as she looked around for D.
When she spotted him at the window she smiled and said,”Morning.”
He looked at her smiling and she spotted the small breakfast tray then looked at
him again. A grin crossed her face and she got up out of bed and walked over to him, her
bare feet padding lightly against the wooden floor. As she came to stand beside him a
commotion was heard from downstairs. The voice of the piggish man from last night
boomed and raved about something but they couldn’t understand what all he was saying.
D walked to the door quietly, glancing down the steps as Kat went and pulled her boots
on, walking to D’s side again.
“You mean two of them disappeared?” Lucien growled with rage.
Another voice spoke up, full of emotion and quiet pain,”Yes...”
As the saddened voice quieted down Lucien slammed his fist off a table with a
curse.
“Damn!”
D began walking slowly down the stars at this and Kat hurried back into the room,
throwing her cape and gauntlets on, strapping her sword on as she walked after D quickly.
“They’ve never taken two before especially when they already took one this week.
That’s three so far,”he slammed his fist into his hand as he continued,”Those two
weirdoes rode into town yesterday and two more kids went missing. I bet....”
Before he could finish though the bartender interupted,”Would you give it a rest. I
think they’re just passing through...”
At this point the three men down there looked up and noticed D and Katrina
standing there, fully decked out in boots, armor and the like standing quietly.
Lucien took a step foward as D remained silent and the bartender grabbed
Luciens’ arm, somehow managing to hold the angry man back. They also noted the voice
they’d heard that they hadn’t recognized belonged to a pale haired man perhaps in his mid
thirties, his face distraught and full of emotion.
“Is there a problem?” D asked quietly, his face and voice as stoic as ever.
“Yeah there's a problem,”Lucien growled at them angrilly,”Two more kids went
missing last night after you two rode into town. As it is one goes missing each week but
this was three kids this week so far... so what'd you do to them huh?”
He pulled his arm free from the bartender and stormed forward to stand before D
and Katrina, giving them each a hard look, particularly Katrina. D remained silent and the
bartender and pale man stepped forward.
“Forgive him,”the bartender said, trying to keep the situation as violence free as
possible,”Lucien’s upset and he never has been very nice to people...”
Lucien glared at the bartender and then to them again sa he said with a
sneer,”Yeah, I still want to know how come those two came into town and two more kids
went missing. As the only person protecting this village I have to take care of any
problems from the freaks that think they can get the better of me.”
“You talk a lot for a man who’s charged with protecting this village,”D said
simply, his voice the same monotone he always used.
Lucien took another step towards them as he said,”You sure have some nerve
talking to me like that.”
He turned to Kat and continued,”I suppose you have sometime to say too huh?
You’ve been quiet til now... Maybe you’re the mute one or maybe you just have the
common sense to realize when it’s not a woman’s place to comment and speak up.”
Looking up at him she gave him a skeptical look, raising one eyebrow as she
looked at him with a rather indifferent face as well.
“I haven’t said anything because I don’t feel like wasting the energy on you...”
With a growl Lucien took a step towards her, raising his hand as if to strike her. D
slipped between them incredibly fast as the two men behind Lucien took a step forward as
well, as if to try and prevent this. Lucien growled again and went to shove D out of the
way as he reached his raised hand around D to grab her by the throat. Quickly, Kat
stepped out of his reach and D caught the arm Lucien tried to push him out of the way
with, counterstriking and shoving Lucien back into the bartender. By the time Lucien was
back up, the two of them had their swords drawn.
As she came up beside D, Lucien stood straighter and growled at them again as the
bartender shouted at him to just leave them alone. D was silent in response and Lucien
got an almost insane light in his eyes.
“I knew there was something odd about them,”he said as the bartender interupted
again.
“Lucien, just shut up,”he said,”Leave them alone. I have a strong feeling they
didn’t do it.”
D looked at the bartender then back to Lucien as the bartender continued,”Infact
I’m sure they didn’t. They don’t have any motive, now go home.”
Lucien grumbled but shuffled out of the bar, slamming the door behind him as the
bartender turned to D and Katrina.
“Please, excuse him. He’s just,”he shook his had as he explained,”I don’t know...
He’s just Lucien.”
In response they sheathed their swords and D looked at the bartender. The
bartender turned to the pale haired man and spoke quietly, a hand going to his shoulder in
a comforting gesture.
“I’m sure we’ll find them,”he said reassuringly,”Don’t worry. I’ll organize a
search party, just try to go comfort Rachel.”
As the pale haired man left the bartender sighed and went to to the bar, fixing 3
ales and sat. D glanced to Kat and then back to the bartender.
Sighing again the man said quietly,”Please... sit.. I should explain.”
As they sat down, D sipped the drink.
“Well, Lately a child disappears each week and we don’t know where to,”he
explained,”Last night though two more children disappeared, bringing this week’s count
to 3.”
D was silent so the man continued,”Lucien automatically accused you because
you're travelers. I'm sorry for that. He thinks he's protecting this village when really he
only dispatched one wolf that strayed too close to the one farmer's flock of sheep.”
Kat sat in silence and took a sip from her drink as she listened intently,
occasionally glancing at the ever silent D.
The bartender was quiet for a moment then spoke up again.
”We don’t know what to do anymore,”he said quietly, his voice full of emotion
though he seemed trying to hide it.
“What exactly is happening?” D asked quietly.
“We think that someone is kidnapping the children but why we’re not sure. The
only thing we can think of is it’s some monster or demon. I’ve heard tales of vampires
ruling like lords over cities but I don’t think there’s any vampires here. We have no
lords,”the man replied.
D was silent as Kat took another sip of her ale and asked,”How long has it been
going on for?”
“About 3 weeks so far. We've tried hiring a hunter but he and Lucien had an
argument and Lucien ran him out of town,”the bartender explained sadly.
D was silent for a moment then said, a hint of dislike in his voice,”Perhaps you
should send Lucien out to find this thing.”
“Lucien went out twice but claimed he didn’t find anything,”the bartender stated
quietly,”He won’t let us hire any other hunters.”
Kat looked at him and suggested,”If he’s having no luck why don’t you just go
behind his back and hire a hunter.”
“Because Lucien’s made sure that anyone who travels through here leaves
quickly,”he explained,”Like he tried to do to you two yesterday.”
He sighed and continued,”I just don't know what to do anymore... I think we'll
have to find a hunter now to look into this whether Lucien likes it or not.”
D thought for a moment then said,”We’ll find the children.”