Realistic or Modern Welcome To Shearport

[Grey]

Lucas Hood - Sheriff's Office





"Deputy," Hood replies, takes a moment to glance around, get a feel for the office this morning. "Heard there were some missing children reported, wanted a look at the files."

 

[Axelgear]

Sackcloth - The Kitchen


Following the cacophony to the kitchen, Robert's mind is clicking over - one can almost hear it if you lean in close enough. Plucking a screwdriver from his tool belt, he twirls it over in thought, hessian-woven fingers feeling every form and curve.


"Might do well to make a list of places we need to search; decide whether it'd be wise to split into groups." Robert offers to the discussion between Lita and Red, slipping around them to join the quartet formed by Liam, Zach, Sage, and the boar-tusked matriarch.


"Unpleasant discoveries." He answers Liam. "The short version is, there's something out there in the Hedge. Red went to look and see what it was, and found shoes. Children's shoes. Must have been lost recently." He explains, and briefly goes over the other useful details; Lucas checking out case reports, the cherry blossoms, the recentness of the shoe's purchase...


"Lucas has gone to the sheriff to see what more he can found out about any missing person's cases. I was figuring that, when he gets back, we might all go start looking for the kid but, if Lita's got somewhere she wants to look right this second, we might be splitting up a bit. Certainly have got enough places to check out..." He muses, brushing his hair back as he does.


"Oh!" Sackcloth adds rather suddenly, giving a swooping bow. "Never properly said good morning to you all! Apologies, and a good morning."


"Well... Not completely good, but you know what I mean." Robert mumbles in apologetic embarrassment.

 

[The Fuzz]

---> Lucas





"Uh, sure thing Lucas. Take the back terminal, I'll send you the files."


The office might look a bit rustic, but it actually has a borderline decent computer network.


After a moment, Hawes looks up from over his screen.


"So, you gonna tell me what this is about? Conlon's out at the highway with Perez. There's been some truck pileup, one of the drivers pulled a gun. Asshole."


He shakes his head and scowls.


Conlon's the Sheriff. Man's hitting forty-five this year, but he likes sheriff-ing, and he probably won't have any real competition for his next four year term either. The local sheriff's department has jurisdiction in Wilburn county, of which the biggest town is Shearport, and also includes the smaller community of Holborn, eight miles up the highway. You typically work with them on cases involving missing persons and manhunts, due to how much of the locale is wooded.


The files have not yet arrived at your terminal.

 

[Grey]

Lucas Hood - Sheriff's Office





Tapping the edge of the desk absently, Hood watches the screen - but spares Hawes a glance.


"Oh, nothin' afterall. One of the staff over at The Lantern found a toy racecar behind the bunkhouse. Found the owner in the guestbook, though - been there since last summer."


He leans forward, elbows on the desk, still waiting.

 

[PixelWitch]

Zach - The Kitchen > The Back Garden.


Seeing as everyone seems to have been successfully fed and watered, the redhead makes sure his kitchen is safe and clean before padding out through the dining room, giving a nod to the elderly couple enjoying his food. A quiet exit through the back door, he finds himself on the back porch, leading down to the lawn beyond.


With autumn setting in it'll need raked soon...


Gus appears at his side as he does so. Big inky eyes half closed in contentment at the outside air. *Ball?* *BALL!?* Ballballballballball!*


Zach chuckles, fetching a frayed wayward tennis ball from under a bench and lobbing it with all his skinny armed strength, causing the mutt to go barreling down the porch steps in a blur of black fur and enthusiastic slobber.


Now. Keys.


He eyes the shed standing by the side of the house.

 

[The Fuzz]

---> Lucas





Hawes gives you a bit of an odd look, but after a moment, the files become available to you.


Let's see now....of the four unresolved cases, that's two in the last month or so, one boy, one girl.


Boy is Ian Harte, white, ten years old, family from Boston, kid goes missing from their hotel. No obvious signs of staff involvement, parents are together, no siblings, no jealous ex's, no issues with grandparents, no ransom demand.


Girl is Melanie Grace, African-American, eight years old, New York. Kid goes missing while shopping in town. Parents divorced but amicable, she was here with the mother, father has an alibi, no ransom demands, nothing of the sort. Mother is still in town, father's been contacted.


Would You Like To Know More?

 

[Grey]

Lucas Hood





Hood continues to tap through the files, looking for any clues and committing the faces to memory.

 

[The Fuzz]

---> Hood





Ian Harte is slightly chunky in build, naturally tan, light brown hair nearly the same colour as his skin.


Melanie Grace is skinny, hair in cornrows, big smile, chocolate brown complexion. Pretty child.


The file gets you contact details for both sets of parents.


Up to you now, I guess.


---> Everybody Else





No, really, your move.


Shortly, the old folks finish up breakfast. Mr. Harrington takes their plates over and leaves them on the ledge beside the kitchen door, and they potter on out to go see what's going on in town.


It's about 8.30 by this point.

 

[Grey]

Lucas Hood





Lucas prints a few small details, a sheet apiece, and heads back out to the car, to drive back to the Lantern. He gives Hawes a nod on the way out, nothing more.

 

[PixelWitch]

Zach - The Back Garden


The shed sits alongside the fence marking the garden's end. Not a very ostentatious affair; a simple wooden shack whitewashed with mint green details and flourished with cobwebs and soil. The only unusual feature to it seems to be the fact the door has two handles with locks. One on each side. This would lead one to believe that both sides have hinges too. Meaning the door is incapable of opening.


The redhead produces a keyring with numerous keys jingling from his pocket. Some are more modern silvery affairs, one or two older slender and starting to rust.


One key goes into the right doorhandle. Turns. Clicks.


The shed door swings open from the left hinges to reveal... well, the inside of a shed. Musty, filled with clay pots, more cobwebs, various garden tools, and a lawnmower that looks hazardous to anyone daring to touch it. Batting cobwebs aside, Zach grabs a hoe, trowel and a watering can before backing out and shutting the door.


Locked, key comes out, different key selected. This one goes in the left side handle lock. Turns and clicks.


This time however, the right hinges swing and the door somehow opens in the opposite direction.


But he is no longer greeted by the innards of a wooden shack. Instead a stream of warm summery sunshine gushes through the doorway, making him nip through the entrance quickly, lest it attract attention.


Where he is now standing is no longer in the shed, or even in the real world. Instead he stands in a small sunlit clearing in The Hedge, dappled sunlight somehow filtering down through the thick thorns and leaves that cocoon the tiny area. Peacock green grass giggles underfoot when stepped on, surrounding several rows of cultivated goblin fruits in a fenced off flowerbed, a trickling pond, a small threadbare armchair, and a bookcase mainly containing gardening tips.


So, let's see how things are doing... and if anyone's been through here...

Spoiler

Just making sure there's none of those footprints or anything out of place, or traces of kiddywinks that people have been talking about...


Wits (3) + Investigation (2)


[dice]2920[/dice]

 

[Alexandra]

Sage - The kitchen


Waving away Robert's apology she says "Well, one thing is for certain; I'm not letting any of you out there alone. If a child has gotten lost in the Hedge, then we may be lucky and find her. But if she has actively been taken...."


She lets the implication hang for a moment.


"I've gotten a little too attached to some of you to risk anyone being scooped up again."

 

[Axelgear]

Sackcloth


"Hmhmhmhm... But don't you worry..." Sackcloth cannot help but chuckle, tittering a little laugh and drawing up the edges of the perforation that forms his mouth. He covers it with a fabric-fitted finger, bowing his head slightly, and is soon all but unable to help himself as he begins to sway and let himself fall about in a kind of dance. Left and right he moves, catching himself from nearly horizontal falls like a puppet dancing on strings.


"No more ashes, no more sackcloth / and an arm-band made of black cloth / will some day never adorn a sleeve." He hum-sings, voice surprisingly lyrical when he does. "For if the bomb that drops upon you / gets your friends and neighbours too, / then there'll be nobody left behind to grieve!"


"And we will all go together when we go!" Sackcloth cheers, almost throwing himself up onto the arm of a chair, balancing there nimbly on the tips of his toes, before finally catching himself and tumbling forward. Rolling with the motion, he lands comfortably on the floor, laying on his side, leaning up to rest his head propped up on an arm in a pose that could not be any more proud.


"Eh-heh... Apologies." Robert says with a bow of his head, shifting to climb back up to his feet. "Not sure what came over me there." Dusting himself down, he looks bashfully up to Sage and gives another delicate bow.


"Your concerns are much appreciated, m'lady Sage. Wouldn't want anything untoward or unkind happening to you, or none of the rest here. Or anyone, for that matter, I don't think. 'Specially not small children." Robert muses, moving to take a seat and fold himself inward after the rather daft display.


"I'll agree with your council. Master Hood shouldn't be too long at the station; time enough for me to finish me work. If you'd oblige waiting and heading with us, I think we'd both be much obliged in turn. Hopefully, lofty Lita and rambunctious Red will abide, too."

Spoiler

[media]

[/media]
[dice]2927[/dice]


Sackcloth's rendition is pretty good, it seems.

 

[Inari]

Red


-In the Kitchen-


”Anywhere my feet can’t take me is somewhere I don’t need to be,” Red remarked, before pausing a moment to consider the words. Yeah, that sounded about right. He gave Gus an affectionate petting as the beast followed Zach out of the room. ”Yeah, I’m with you,” he assured Lita, leaning against the refrigerator as the conversation swallowed up Sage as well. After Sackcloth’s little show, Red’s face scrunched up a moment before he spoke up again. ”Probably should have said, I only followed half the tracks. Went backward to see where they came from. I’m not sure where the kid was taken; didn’t want to get in too deep without some backup. I don’t mind waiting for Lucas, but the trail is gonna go cold sooner or later.” Bushy black eyebrows furrowed as he reminded them of this; trails were hard enough to follow in the Hedge when they were fresh.

 

[The Fuzz]

---> Hood





Traffic ain't bad with the summer tourists gone. Rotting leaves can make the roads a little slipper in the mornings, but that won't be for a couple of weeks yet. Speaking of leaves, you need to lead a tour of leaf-peeping hikers tomorrow. Be nice if you didn't stumble across a teeny little missing person in the woods.


Otherwise, you arrive back at the Lantern to find folks bustling about and planning to enter the Hedge. Sackcloth is singing some awful ditty about how y'all done fucked up now.


----> Zach





The bastards. The bastards.





Your tomatoes, your frigging autumn tomatoes, the ones that only grow in the Hedge, have been ransacked. Pilfered. Absconded with.


Ditto the strawberries, the cherries, the adult mutfruit (you know they're fully grown when they turn ruddy and their whiskers start to droop) and the apples. Only the red apples, strangely.


There's a cluster of footprints on the edge of the soft earth by the bushes.

 

[Grey]

Lucas Hood





Hood steps back into the kitchen, leans against a windowsill, hooks his thumbs into his belt.


"No luck; not really." He says. "Got some pictures, names, parents." He draws the sheets from inside his coat and lays them on the table.


"We're looking for one, but I'll be damned if we won't keep an eye open for the other while we're at it."

 

[Inari]

Red


-In the Kitchen-


”Other?” Red repeated, frowning as he picked up the bundle of sheets and flipped through them. Anyone watching could see the focus with which he scanned the papers, but it was probably as much difficulty reading as concern for the victims. Red had missed out on all his upper-level schooling and had needed to spend a good deal of effort learning to read with reasonable ease again; he still had to take it fairly slow when there were so many words.


”Seven?” he wondered at the papers when he had found a particular passage. He needed a minute to read over the details closer, but it only settled him a little. With seven children going missing over the course of one summer, Shearport must be getting a reputation for amber alerts. ”Four missing still, including…” He searched for the name of the girl and puffed a blast of air from his nostrils. ”Melanie,” he nodded, inspecting a picture of her provided by the parents; easier than sorting through the clinical description.


”Missing while shopping. Gardening center was a little bit out of town, but…maybe.” He set down the file again for anyone else to inspect and looked up to Lucas. ”Looks like we have a few places to check out, and we’ve still got the actual trail to follow. Not sure where to go first, but we need you when we head into the Hedge.”

 

[Grey]

Lucas Hood





Hood nods. "I think that's the best place to start, for now."

 

[PixelWitch]

Zach - Hollow Garden


FFFFFFFF-


If he had a hat or sunglasses he'd be throwing them on the floor in disgust right now. Instead the garden tools receive his wrath, hurled to the floor with an ugly clonk.


Then he bursts into flames. Literally. His whole upper torso wreaths itself in bright saffron fire, his hair standing on end and aglow in rage.


Really? Really!? All of them? Not even just... seriously? ...and after so many weeks of- ALL OF THEM? REALLY!?


A minor tantrum ensues as the human torch flails about like a giant toddler on fire, cursing and stomping.


Eventually, finally he calms and the flames subside, flickering and smoking to nothing. He breathes deep, fists clenching and unclenching as he does.


Zen resumes.


He finally goes over to his stock to see if there is anything left to salvage... examining any leftovers. Teethmarks... hair... those footprints...


Even if it is those missing kids I'mma slap them for this...


I need to invest on more bloody wards.


Fuck.

Spoiler

So... these kids footprints? Or hobgoblins? Who nicked my shit, goddammit!?


Wits (3) + Investigation (2) again.


[dice]2962[/dice]

 

[Ragoza]

Liam - the Kitchen


And the day had gotten off to such a nice start.


"Right, don't anyone leave without me. Shout when Lucas gets back, I'll get me gear."


Liam heads upstairs to his room, closing the door firmly behind him. He reaches under his bed to pull out a long sea chest, carefully unlocking it and taking out a harpoon carved of dull bone. It's the only material reminder of his time before the Cruel Mistresses mast, and doesn't carry comfortable memories. He hefts it, the weight bringing a sense of grim determination. No child will be taken by the fae on his watch.


Taking a moment to compose himself, he tucks a fisherman's knife in his boot, throws a first


aid kit into a bag and returns downstairs harpoon in hand.


"What's the plan, gentlemen?" he asks, calmly pouring tea into a thermos flask and tossing half a loaf of bread, some cheese and a packet of sliced ham into the bag.

 

[risaphoeniix]

• In Character
• OOC

• 
  
  
  Meanwhile
  
  
  Lita the Magpie, The Kitchen, The Nest, The Kitchen
  
  
  Lita claps enthusiastically at Sackcloth's performance. "That's okay, I need to go get my Hedge kit." She hops up and darts out of the kitchen. A few seconds later you hear the screen door of the inn slam shut.
  
  
  Shearport isn't a big place, so it doesn't take Lita long to reach the shore. Snaking along it is a stacked wall of big rocks, just in case some pesky hurricane tries to come in and sweep the town away. Climbing off the road Lita begins hopping from rock to rock, humming to herself. A strange little tune, about some nobleman who seemed to really enjoy making people march up and down hills. She'd heard a little boy at the inn singing it with his mother and it stuck in her head, she could swear she'd heard it before. It made for good hopping music.
  
  
  A glint caught her eye and she started to bend down, unfortunately, she did so mid hop. Her landing foot caught a wet patch of leaves and she slipped landing ingloriously sprawled across the next rock, luckily a not too sharp one. Bruised but not particularly injured, she reached down into the gap between boulders, pulling up a large mussel shell, which had been lying shiny side up in a patch of seaweed. Pocketing it, she kept moving, at first a little more cautiously, but a couple minutes later she was back to hopping, humming about dukes and hills and enjoying the sun.
  
  
  Eventually she reached a spot where the rocks turned into a jetty that reached out into waves. Climbing up, she hopped onto the path and headed to the end, where the old lighthouse towered above the waves. To most of the residents of Shearport, it was an eyesore, to Lita, it was the perfect place for a nest. She drew an old key from the special, secret pocket where she kept it and unlocked the door.
  
  
  Inside was a winding spiral staircase whose structural integrity looked not entirely intact. She ran up them, coming to a stop at the top. She then carefully hopped back down the top two stairs, then up one, then back down, then finally back to the top. Turning the knob counter clockwise, she opened the door and stepped through.
  
  
  "Hello!" she said brightly to no one in particular, as the small low room in the top of the lighthouse was empty, or rather, unocccupied. Lita danced her way around stacks of books and dangling strings of beads and cluttered shelves and tables and boards to a spot midway along the right hand wall. Pausing in front of a chipped mahogany bookcase that looked like it had seen better days she started unloading her pockets. First came the shiny muscle shell that had been the cause of her mishap earlier. Then came a small plastic car, bright red with orange stripes. Finally, around the car she wrapped a pretty gold bracelet, little glints flickered in the rooms dim light, marking where tiny diamonds were set around its length.
  
  
  Giving her new additions a satisfied look, Lita backed up and flopped backwards, not even bothering to turn around, landing in a heaping pile of cushions that occupied the space beneath the room's window. They were every bit as strange and varied as the rest of the room's contents, a bright red fire engine pillow tossed on top of fine satin brocade pillows and canvas porch cushions. She hugged the rather worn teddy bear lying in the nest and then sat up. She was in a hurry. Reaching down next to the pillows she picked up a worn looking canvas backpack and checked its contents. First there was a coil of strong, thick rope, then a small pair of surprisingly strong shears, a lighter, her spare set of lock picks, a bright pink water bottle with some cartoon character on it (she thought the little girl who left it behind at the inn might have called her Dora?) and, most importantly, a wax paper bag of salt water taffy. It wouldn't do to go hungry! Popping a bright pink taffy into her mouth she stood up and shouldered her backpack. She was about to step out and then stopped.
  
  
  Turning to a small box on one of the shelves she pulled her bangles off her wrists. Going into the hedge generally meant being all sneaky. Bangles were a bit to noisy for sneaking. These removed, she stepped out of the room, closed the door and skipped down the stairs. She left the lighthouse, locked the door behind her, and began running along the road back towards the inn. She didn't think they'd leave without her, but she could never be sure.
  
  
  Just after Lucas returned the sound of the door slamming could be heard, along with a call of "I'm back! Anyone want a taffy?"
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  Sorry for the delay, started this post before but had to check a few things with Fuzz.
  
  
  

Spoiler

[dice]2929[/dice]


Wow, that was unlucky. (Summary of events taken from personal experience, minus the shiny bit).

 

[Inari]

Red


-In the Kitchen->Out Back-


Red had been pacing about in the kitchen while some of the others went to fetch their gear. He had a habit of pacing when he had to wait, like an animal prowling about its territory impatiently. Getting everyone back together didn’t take too long, but every passing moment was one his prey got a little farther away. Upon Lita’s return, Red perked up, impatience turning to invigoration. ”Sounds like it’s time to hunt,” he declared, an eager glint in his eye. He headed for the back door. ”Alright, everyone. We’re headed into the green, so stay close and keep your eyes open.” Packs of people didn’t work as well together as packs of wolves; one had to use words more often. Not everyone understood what it meant when you hunched your shoulders, or changed the way you stood, or could smell the change in the air when someone got more alert, much less identify it. He led the way toward the pavilion and had pulled the torn off bit of ivy from his pocket when he paused, looking about, frowning.


”Anyone seen Zach?” He’d lost track of his companion after breakfast, he realized; Red tended to pay more attention to the food rather than the company.

 

[Axelgear]

Sackcloth - Kitchen -> Bunkhouse -> Backyard


Robert didn't look entirely pleased to be applauded for his outlandish display, more embarrassed by it than anything, but he gives a tip of his head and an appreciative gesture to Lita just the same. While she goes and gathers her things for the journey, he goes, at last, to get the work done he's been putting off. By the time everyone's back and everything's sorted, he is more than finished and returns with his tools on his belt... Including a broad selection of assorted knives and blunt instruments with which to soothe any tensions between an ill-intended beastie and himself via the kind gift of artistic new windows to let light into the darkened corners of their soul, skull, liver, and other assorted vital areas.


Unable to help himself, Sackcloth also brings his fiddle. You never know when music will help save the day.


"He was heading out to the back garden, last I checked. Bright spark didn't go ahead on his own, did he?" Robert answers Red, trotting on light feet to join the group on his way down from the bunkhouse, still fiddling with the straps that hold on his tools and the fiddle.

 

[PixelWitch]

Zach - The Hollow Shed > The Kitchen


The red-head gathers what little fruits can be salvaged, grumbling irritably to himself and makes his way back outside. Not much point in tending to fruits that don't exist anymore... I was going to prepare them and everything...


He leaves the shed, locks it, and stumbles back up the garden, wiping his feet on the porch mat.


Gus follows suit, even the wiping his feet part, like a good hobdog.


He finds a small audience leaving the kitchen already.


"My fruits have been nicked," he explains. His hair is steaming lightly.

 

[Alexandra]

Sage


Sage takes the time to return to her tea while everyone runs off to find supplies. She shakes her head a little at Red's reading aloud of part of the report, but says nothing.


...terrible business altogether...but surely we would have noticed other children getting lost in the Hedge before it got to this stage....





She sets her cup in the sink once the groups gathers together again, and taps towards the backdoor. The Darkling's face wrinkles even further at Zach's statement.


"Who on earth would do that...?"

 

[risaphoeniix]

Lita the Magpie, Kitchen/Out Back?





Lita, who had many times been chased out of the kitchen for nicking fruits, buns, sweets and pretty much anything that was small and not coffee flavored, immediately piped up with "it wasn't me!"