The Exception, The Guardian, and The Monster

Plat

Esredes: >The village he’s become so familiar with comes into sight up in the air, signaling his usual descent into the woods. It took some extra time management to get this visit in, but he’s willing to make it. Maybe it’s a bit early, but he felt it’d be better to make it so.
Downwards he shifts, trading his majestic true form for the small, uncomfortable one he’s had to use with Alise. She’s really overdue for seeing the full picture.<

Esredes: >From there, his usual walk occurs— through the treeline and into the village, the wind blowing lightly at his side. By this point, he wonders if any of these humans would recognize him. It didn’t matter as long as they minded their own business.<

Esredes: >An afternoon alone with Alise. It’ll be interesting, to say the least.< >He thinks back a moment to how they met. To think she went from being any other human to being... special. Different. And not because of her hands, either. To think even a race created to destroy this world can make exceptions... The world is a strange place.<

Momo

>As he approaches the home, he notices a few things off. The first is that there is a small group of humans standing outside the front and looking around. An old woman, a younger man with dark hair, and a child. The child seems to be trying to drag the two towards the house as his whines grow louder.<
Child: You have to believe me!! You have to!
Man: You probably imagined it and heard some dogs fighting. Besides, the people here are strange. All sorts of strange noises already leave this shop.

Plat

Esredes: >As he comes upon his eternal target and sees the people, his mood immediately turns to confusion.< >...What is going on. Why are there people here. Nobody is ever outside the shop like this.< >He quickly makes his way closer to them.< Excuse me? What's going on out here...?

Momo

Child: >His attention leaves the man and old woman as he turns to Esredes.< Ah! YOU! You're the red guy! >He runs up and grabs his hand, trying to pull him towards the house.< You can check since you're their friends!
Man: HEY! Don't go up to strangers-
Child: It's the gauntlet lady! I heard screams around here yesterday- but no one believes me!

Plat

Esredes: >Wh-- don't touch me you gross little child.< >He attempts to get his hand free, but he's still following the child< Screams?! What screams?! When did you hear screams??

Momo

Man: Sir- I am so sorry about my so-
Child: Yesterday! I was playing ball with my friends and I heard screaming! >He pulls Esredes to the door and tries to open it. One would think it would be locked, but oddly enough, it glides open with ease. The most glaring thing, however, are the scorched hand marks on the other side of the door. One at the base to push with the other on the door's handle. The child lets go and takes a step back as the eerie silence sinks in.<

Plat

Esredes: >What the....< Is she not here??

Momo

>The inside of the house is empty. Nothing really seems out of place at first, but if Esredes kept walking in, he'd spot one of Alise's gauntlets on the ground.<

Plat

Esredes: >The moment he spots the gauntlet, he freezes.< >Oh no. Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, NO!<

Momo 

>He notices next a knife left on the ground, not so far from the gauntlet. A slight scent in the air of something burnt that leads towards the kitchen catches up to him as well.<

Plat

Esredes: >His mind registers the knife has no blood on it, and he can certainly smell that awful stench. The panic is rising in his chest as his mind and eyes whirl around the room.< >SHE MUST'VE TAKEN HER. THAT SCIENTIST TOOK ALISE. I SAID I WOULD COME HERE SO THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN! IT CAN'T JUST HAPPEN ANYWAY!< >He rushes into the kitchen to investigate the smell.<

Momo

>The kitchen has an unfortunate burnt meat smell as a pot of stew was left hanging over a fire. The fire is now long put out, and the former stew has hardened around the edges of the pot.<

Plat

Esredes: >Eugh, it smells terrible, but he barely registers the smell as he stares at the pot.< >She must've been abducted in the middle of making stew... But that means...< >His mind echoes what the potion maker said--if they tried to use the same thing twice, it'd probably kill her.< >No, no, this... this can't be really happening like this, I swear to the gods, if that parasite lays a finger on her again I WILL MAKE HER REGRET HER OWN BIRTH.< >I WILL FIND YOU AND I WILL KILL YOU BEFORE I LET YOU DO THAT TO HER.<

Esredes: >...He takes in a deep breath and exhales.< >Keep it together, Esredes. You cannot afford to rush into this one. She's counting on you for it now.<

Esredes: >Just think. Think, think, think. There's a burned pot and her glove, scorch marks on the door, some child heard a scream... there has to be more, evidence that leads with a trail, something to go on here... She's not good at cleaning up after herself.< >He quickly observes the rest of the kitchen, then goes back into the main room.<

Momo

>As he walks back from the main room, he spots that the door into the workshop has been kicked down.<

Plat

Esredes: >Oh god... He goes over to the door to examine it. Kicked off its hinges, but no scorch marks... What happened in the workshop?<

Momo

>There's not too much in the workshop. Levi had taken a few of his inventions so it's bound to look a little emptier than usual. However, a few things seem a bit out of place, as if someone went through some of the items quickly to find something.<

Plat

Esredes: >He's going to go ahead and do something similar with the entire room. He has no idea what's usually in here besides various tools and the boat... but there has to be an indication something was taken.<

Momo

>The only thing that seems to be the most noticeable is an empty hook that usually holds a good amount of rope. The area around there seems to be the most messy.<

Plat

Esredes: >I do remember rope being there... That must've been used to tie her up. Why else would you take rope?< >When he's done in there, he's going to go through the other rooms in the house one by one quickly, examining each one for its contents and signs of anything out of place.<

Momo

>There's not much else for him to spot. The rest of the rooms seem relatively untouched. Perhaps there will be more clues outside.<

Plat

Esredes: >Once he's sure he's basically covered everything, he finds himself back in the main room.< >There's no broken windows or blood spots or anything besides the door... What could she have used to get Alise with such little fight?< >He's going outside now to see if the people are still there.<

Momo

The old woman seems to have wandered off, as well as the man, but the boy is still there.
Child: ... is she okay?

Plat

Esredes: No. She's been kidnapped. She's most definitely in danger. Tell me... you said you heard her scream yesterday, right? What time of day was it? Did you hear or see anything else?

Momo

Child: It was late afternoon. I heard some screaming... then I could see some smoke coming from the forest! I tried to run after it but my mom stopped me- >He points towards the forest away from the village.< That way!

Plat

Esredes: ...Thank you. >Children aren't always useless after all.< I'm going to take a look. >He hurries off in that direction.<

Momo

Child: Okay! I'll be... here!
>As he hurries over, he starts to notice long trails of scorch marks. They're continuous and long, not like footprints. Perhaps she was dragging her hands across.<

Plat

Esredes: >Maybe that's why the house is relatively unharmed. Did she run out here? Did the mutated rat grab the rope and chase her?< >He keeps following the scorch marks, doing his best to make sense of them.<

Momo

>He comes across a clearing where there are scorch marks around in a circle, as if she was being surrounded. That's nearly impossible though since the rest of the foliage around here seems untouched. Her shoes lay near the center of the scorched circle.<

Plat

Esredes: >Suspicious, he goes to investigate the surrounding foliage, just in case anything was there, any signs something was there. He also investigates the general area around the circle of the scorch marks before coming back to it, looking down at her shoes.< >They must have gotten her here... I don't see why she'd take off her shoes on her own. But there's no visible signs of where they went, or any scent trail...< >He looks down at her shoes a moment longer, then picks them up, going back towards the house.<

Momo

>It's odd that the trail ends at the scorched circle. She bolts all the way from the house to suddenly lose the trail. There could be a number of possibilities. The lack of another presence is also odd as well. Whoever took her was cautious and careful, and knew what they were doing.<

Plat

Esredes: >He remembers what Alise said the other day about no coincidences... but it couldn't be flight. Humans don't fly. Not unless some sort of twisted, demented knochen is helping her... and somehow he doubts that.< >Even the more questionable members of my own faction wouldn't do something like this... It'd take something truly crazy to want to help that fiend.< >As he approaches the house, he looks for the kid again. Is he still here?<

Momo

>The kid is still around, standing close to the house. He has a concerned look on his face.<
Child: Find anything?

Plat

Esredes: >You must be either really fascinated by this or concerned about her.< Her shoes. It seems she got abducted out by the forest. There's no other traces of anyone.

Momo

Child: >He starts to tear up< ... I'm sorry....

Plat

Esredes: ....Sorry for what? It's not like you kidnapped her.

Momo

Child: But- if I was a little louder- or if I made someone listen to me... we could have helped her.... Alise is nice to me…

Plat

Esredes: >So there is someone in this village besides the vegetable lady that doesn't harass her or give her weird looks.< Are they going to believe you now?

Momo

Child: Hopefully! Maybe we can make a search party!

Plat

Esredes: That's a nice idea, kid. How about this. While I go put these inside, could you spread the word? If someone doesn't believe you, send them to me. I think I'm going to talk to them as well.

Momo

Child: >He nods and starts to run off.< Thanks Red Man!

Plat

Esredes: >I'm not even wearing my usual red outfit. I guess the hair stands out more when you're trying to blend in.< >He pushes the door inside, setting the shoes down by the gauntlet. Now... there's something else I better take care of. He goes to where the pens and paper were kept, now that he's seen just about everything in his search, and then moves to the nearest surface to write on.< >If Levi returns, he needs to know what happened. He needs to know I'm out there looking for her.<

Esredes: >He takes the pen and starts writing. His handwriting would look neat if he took the time, but instead it's rushed and scraggy in appearance.< Levi,
They took her. I came here two days after you left and Thessen >what, I don't know how to spell that god-awful name< took her. I told you I'd look after her so this didn't happen, but it seems she had other plans.
Whenever you get this, be assured that I am currently doing everything possible to get her back to you. I know she means everything to you. And that nut is going to pay for this by the blade of my sharpened sword.
I'll hopefully see both of you soon.

Esredes: >He almost starts writing his name, then stops. No, I can't risk anyone seeing it besides him. Instead he just writes,< Your other best friend. >He'll get the idea if I put it in his own terms.<

Esredes: >He then sets the pen down and leaves the note by the front desk where he'll see it, and exits the house again. He sets off in the direction of town.< >I'm going to see if the vegetable lady knows about this yet, as well as whoever else is around.<

Momo

>On his way to town, he witnesses a familiar trio on their way over to the house. Mavrik, with a small bandage around his throat, and his crew, hearing the news had decided to see for themselves if Alise was really gone.<
Mavrik: Well well, if it isn't redhead himself. Is it true what the kid's saying? The doll was kidnapped?

Plat

Esredes: >Oh for the love of both goddesses.< >He stops for a second, giving them all a death glare in an attempt to activate his intimidating aura in full force.< Yes, it most certainly is. Her life is in danger.

Momo

Mavrik: >His smirk drops a bit.< ... You're serious? I thought the kid was pulling my leg.

Plat

Esredes: I am as serious as she wants you dead. And unless you're going to be useful in any sort of way in getting her back, I don't have time to deal with any of you.

Momo

Mavrik: Cold.... look, we just wanted to see if it was true or not. I just can't believe the doll got caught. Guess she wasn't as strong as she thought.

Plat

Esredes: She's much stronger than all of you combined. She's just being targeted by a demon. You'd all be dead if the same demon targeted you. At least she's survived it once. >With that, he begins to walk off past them.<

Momo

Mavrik: You sure she's even still alive?

Plat

Esredes: She has to be if you still are.

Momo

Mavrik: I kind of doubt it. A doll like that getting taken? She's probably already dead, you're wasting your time.

Plat

Esredes: >He stops a moment, his fists curling up.< You don't even know what took her. Go be a toxic waste of space somewhere else.

Momo

Mavrik: For all I know, that Levi guy is the one who took her out, he was that annoyed of her freeloading off of him.

Plat

Esredes: Really? You think Levi would kill her? It's a bit difficult to kill someone when you've been away from town for two days.

Momo

Mavrik: Coulda been that loon's master plan. You've seen the guy, running- or- hobbling around gathering crazy materials and explosions at his place. He probably snapped.

Plat

Esredes: >He exhales a long, angry sigh, then turns around, walking right up to Mavrik, grabbing him by the shirt.< How about we make a little bet?
Esredes: If I'm right, and Alise is alive, then you get to live. But if you're right, and she is dead, I can assure you I can make you hurt much worse than a tonfa. And I'll make sure nobody notices when you disappear.

Momo

Mavrik: >His eyes widen and he struggles to get away< H-Hey man- take it easy-

Plat

Esredes: I don't think anyone would miss you, would they? At least Alise contributes more to the world around her than any of you. So you better hope for your own sake that she's strong enough to save your pitiful little life. >He releases him and walks off for good this time.<

Momo

---
>Esredes can find Mrs. Lafferty at her stand again, tending to her produce. She notices Esredes on his way over and gently waves at him.<

Plat

Esredes: >He's managed to calm himself down enough on the way over here. He doesn't wave back, but stops in front of the stall.< Hello, miss. I'm sure you likely recognize me from the one time I was here with Alise... I don't know if you've heard yet, but she's been kidnapped.

Momo

Lafferty: >She nods.< Indeed I have... I was hoping it wasn't true.... I'm too old to truly help look for her, but I've been making everyone aware.

Plat

Esredes: That's good. They all need to be aware. She really doesn't seem to be all that appreciated by these townspeople. It'd be nice of them to help her for a change. >They have no idea how much she's doing for this town. She's the only reason this place can't be leveled to the ground anytime soon.<

Momo

Lafferty: Alise seems cold and stand offish... but- >She smiles a bit.< You and I both know that's not truly the case. I hope you bring her back safe and sound.

Plat

Esredes: I'll do everything I can to.

Momo

Lafferty: Thank you.... Now, I know my eyesight isn't the best, but there was no commotion around here during the time of the incident yesterday. Perhaps that could mean she wasn't taken towards this direction.

Plat

Esredes: There's a trail going more out into the forest, but it disappears suddenly. Chances are it went off somewhere in one of those directions, but that's not a very solid lead…

Momo

Lafferty: She couldn't have gotten very far in just a day... Perhaps she left a trail of some sort?

Plat

Esredes: I haven't seen another one…

Momo

Lafferty: It might not be a trail you can see so clearly. Take the time to look back and focus. I believe you'll be able to find her.

Plat

Esredes: Thank you... I'll have to try to look closer. There has to be something else I'm missing.

Momo

Lafferty: Make sure you take care of yourself as well while you search. You won't be able to look without any energy.

Plat

Esredes: Don't worry, I know a lot about managing energy.

Momo

Lafferty: Good good. Now, no need to keep talking to an old woman like myself. You have work to do.

Plat

Esredes: I certainly do. Take care. >All right, time to move on.<

==Esredes spends several minutes talking to people in town before he gets a sense that the word has spread. He then heads back towards the house.==

Momo

>No one is there when he gets back. Perhaps a few stragglers taking a look at the place, but no one daring to go inside.<

Plat

Esredes: >All right. He heads back towards the scorched circle now, inhaling through his nose as much as possible.< >I wish I had Cypress here right now. But her scent better not just disappear right here.<

Momo

>Thankfully, besides the faint smell of ash and smoke, Alise's scent is more prominent here. It seems odd at first that the scent just stops here, unless of course, she back tracked to the house at some point.<

Plat

Esredes: >Nothing for the other directions... He spends a couple minutes here, then he does head back to the house. I have to be missing something...<

Momo

>On his way back to the house, he oddly picks up a new trail heading north. Even though there are no burn marks or signs, the trail is still there.<

Plat

Esredes: >There we go. Lead achieved. Don't worry Alise, I'm coming.< >He hurries off in its direction. How long will it be until it takes him away from human civilization?<

Momo

>It doesn't take too long for Esredes to be traveling deep into the forest. Alise's village is pretty isolated with a few roads connecting to bigger towns, none that are which he's heading towards.<

Plat

Esredes: >All right, time to abandon this form.< >He shifts back to knochen form, and places himself just above the trees, in the air but low enough to keep following the scent. As his confidence returns, so do his angry thoughts as he flies on.< >You thought you could harm my species and Alise and get away with it, Thiessen?< >I've destroyed people piece by piece for doing much, much less than you've gone out of your way to do. I've listened to their pleas for mercy fall deaf on my ears.< >No human in this world will be able to escape my wrath forever... And you're next. You are most definitely next, you daughter of a bitch. I hope you like the taste of blood.<

Astroray

Jack: >He's been patrolling the outer rim of the compound and hears wing flaps in the distance. He pokes his head out of the tree tops and spots Esrey being generally large and red. Jack's instincts fire, telling him to flee, but he remains motionless, tracking his flight patterns.<

Plat

Esredes: >The knochen you're observing appears to be quite focused, and trying to fly at a reasonably quick pace. He continues to keep himself low to the ground. You can tell he's heading right in the direction of the compound.<

Astroray

Jack: >He notes the knochen's determined look and direction and assumes what he is after. Jack leaps from tree to tree, attempting to get closer. He watches Esrey's flight pattern closely, specifically checking his altitude.<

Plat

Esredes: >From this perspective, you can see how he's making small variations in height as he goes, sometimes flying a bit above when a treetop coming up looks too high, then dipping down again. He's making effort to keep it pretty consistent.< >But then he spots the combine in the distance.< >There it is... target acquired.< >You'll be able to watch him descend below the treeline nearby. Better follow him.<

Astroray

Jack: >He does. With a full meal behind him, Jack feels much stronger than he has for the past few days. Jack can't go quite as fast as an airborne knochen, but he makes quick work of jumping from tree to tree.<

Plat

Esredes: >...Alise said to never try and confront her alone. But I don't have time to get anyone and come back. I'll just have to be careful. It's no ordinary knochen she's dealing with.< >He shifts back downward, this time going to his proper outfit for combat, hand positioned on sword sheath. He does his best not to make any noises as he approaches, all senses on high alert.<

Astroray

Jack: >He watches Esredes shift and counts his every blessing, what little there are.< >This will be much easier on my level.< >He approaches slowly on the forest floor, watching each step he takes. Once he's satisfied with his distance, he projects a muffle Alise scream to the right of Esredes.<

Plat

Esredes: >The moment it reaches him, he freezes up a second, then turns towards the noise and unsheathes his sword. He considers calling out her name, before realizing that's a bad idea. Either way, he runs towards the noise.<

Astroray

Jack: >He's pleased with this knochen's willingness to play and follow behind at a much slower and more cautious pace.<

Plat

Esredes: >As he approaches where he thought he heard the noise, he slows down and takes cover behind a tree. Her scent only seems to be fading now, but he definitely heard something. And he doesn't smell anything else either.< >He listens carefully, for any signs of breathing or movement, looking out from behind the tree to see if anything can be seen.<  >Don't tell me that was someone killing her for trying to escape...<

Astroray

Jack: >With the knochen stopped, Jack parks behind a tree a few meters behind Esredes. A touch annoyed he stopped moving, Jack lets out another muffled Alise scream, making it sound more like a muffled 'HELP ME.'<

Plat

Esredes: >There it is again.< >He has a clearer sense of that one's direction, and he rushes towards it.<

Astroray

Jack: >Feeling overconfident, as Esredes runs, Jack makes a rush at his heels and aims to bite into one with his grate-like teeth.<

Plat

Esredes: >You catch him off guard, but because he was running you only manage to create a shallow bite in one foot. He lets out a short noise of pain and stumbles, then immediately turns toward the direction of his attacker and fires a pinkish beam, hoping to hit. At the same time, he'll also be swinging his sword towards his feet.<

Astroray

Jack: >He manages to jump out of the way of the sword, but gets the beam right to the face. As soon as it hits him, the world seems to fall away beneath him, the ground is an ocean and he is floundering horribly. Jack writhes, unable to catch his footing and in a fit of desperation, he lets out a high pitch scream, loud enough to reach the compound.<

Plat

Esredes: >Shit.< >He begins shifting his free arm partway to make it bigger, and runs towards Jack, aiming to pin him under a foot or arm while he's still on the ground.<

Astroray

Jack: >Writhing on the ground, Jack is totally prone to the pin. Under Esredes' grasp, Jack grips at the claws and pants heavily, still a confused mess.<

Plat

Esredes: >He sheathes his sword, and with that hand free he plants it on jack, right on his throat. He tightens that grip around his throat, not hard enough to choke him, but very much threatening it, shifting his language as well.< Scream again and I will kill you.

Astroray

Jack: >The ground beneath him starts to stabilize and Esredes' words actually get through to him. In response, Jack lets out a sharp, reptilian hiss.<

Plat

Esredes: >He observes you more closely now. A knochen. There is one lowly enough to work for her. But as he observes you more, the physiology becomes apparent.< >Is this... a child???< ....How old are you?

Astroray

Jack: >He continues to thrash and claw at the paw keeping him pinned. When Esredes addresses him, Jack lets out a Banshee scream in his face.<

Plat

Esredes: >The scream hits his ears at full force. He's met with intense ringing in his ears, before it cuts out completely, and his head hurts like hell. In response, his grip on the throat tightens very hard, just an inch away from crushing it entirely.<

Astroray

Jack: >He was hoping it'd shock him enough to get a little bit of wiggle room, but sure enough, the larger knochen was true to his word. Jack chokes, unable to get any air, he thrashes momentarily, his eyes rolling back before his body goes completely limp.<

Plat

Esredes: >He releases it once he feel his body go limp, and steps off.< >As he doesn't hear any sort of sound from moving, a bit of a panic hits him as he realizes the attack has taken his hearing.< >He's never had to deal with this before. But after taking a minute to panic and recover from the blast enough for all his other senses to return, he tells himself he already gave himself anyway anyhow and he's still going in. No time to get upset, he can make do. After investigating to make sure Alise wasn’t really there, he opts to take off to the sky and fly directly towards the compound. If everything looks clear, he's hoping to land on its roof.<

Momo

The compound seems a lot... smaller than anticipated. It's a small building, one floor, perhaps even one room. It stands alone in the middle of the forest, it's almost difficult to spot from the foliage of the trees.

Plat

Esredes: >He makes his land on the roof.< >This is a lot less intimidating than I expected. I could easily destroy this place through geokinesis alone. There has to be more going on than just this....< >He targets the ground around the compound, but not underneath, exerting pressure on it to make it crumble away. It’s not a very fast process, but he’s trying to hurry it.<

Momo

>As he exerts pressure, it doesn't immediately crumble as he expected. There's more underneath that's keeping the ground up. Perhaps a basement. A really big basement.<

Plat

Esredes: >That’s what I thought. Underground. Not an ideal scenario, especially now that I can’t hear anything coming...< >And there’s most definitely traps of some kind. I really need Cypress right about now...< >He’s not quite intimidated enough to retreat yet, though. Instead he shifts down, but not all the way. He takes on a smaller, somewhat humanoid form, but keeps his wings and claws and a somewhat quadrupled stance. He crawls over to the edge of the roof, and searches around for a rock. When he finds one, he hurls it at a window.<

Momo

>The window smashes pretty easily. However, a smoky gas starts to leak out of the opening. It's clearly visible, but it isn't black like regular smoke from a fire.<

Plat

Esredes: >...What the hell is that?< >He has a feeling he shouldn’t inhale it. Instead he flies past the other side of the roof and towards those windows, trying to get a look inside.<

Momo

>It's nearly pointless. The inside just contains more of the thick fog. However, he can make out something on the floor. A box, a bag, some sort of container that's releasing the fog. He can also spot something along the ground beside it. A large dark square. Perhaps a trap door leading into the basement?<

Plat

Esredes: >It must be a trap. Like the gas is dangerous. I think I can work around this. Are there any trees close to the house?<

Momo

>There are a plentiful amount of trees close to the house. Surrounding the house, actually.<

Plat

Esredes: >Perfect. He focuses on one, and begins to loosen the ground around it. He then gives it a forceful punch from the earth below, sending it towards the house at an angle that should crush the box if it makes it through the roof.<

Momo

>The tree crashes through and, just as he predicted, lands on top of the box. Unfortunately, this causes a large gas cloud to disperse, now rapidly spreading and will soon engulf Esredes.<

Plat

Esredes: >He quickly flies away from it, retreating into a tree by the house far enough away from the cloud. He watches the gas cloud to see how it moves.<

Momo

>The cloud only seems to be spreading outward. Esredes can notices a few birds in a tree close to the house. Once they get engulfed in the cloud, their chirping slowly comes to a halt. In another minute, they drop to the ground, twitching, as if they can't properly move.<

Plat

Esredes: >Paralysis of some kind. He decides to wait a few minutes to allow the cloud to keep dispersing outward. The less it concentrates on the house, the better chance he can hold his breath long enough to get in.<

Momo

>It seems to be dispersing just fine, almost to the point that he could make his way towards the house. However, another cloud starts to form around the building again, almost as if another bag was placed.<

Plat

Esredes: >For hell’s sake.< >He’s going to send a couple more trees down on the house, away from the door. Whoever you are you can’t run.<

Momo

>Before he can send another tree down, however, he sees a figure standing in the smoke. It's hard to make out, and it's odd that the figure could be standing in that situation.<

Plat

Esredes: >Who’s that...? Is that one of them?  Wearing a mask? He flies up in the air, wanting to get a better look.<

Momo

>In the air, he's able to see the strands of gold from the figure's ponytail. They're wearing what seems like a strange gas mask and a large white coat. It's impossible to tell what their expression is, but they stand confidently in the gas and give a simple wave.<

Plat

Esredes: >Golden hair.< >Come to play, you rodent?< >He slowly circles in the air, observing her to see if he can keep her attention on him. At the same time, he’s loosening a tree to drop it on her.<

Momo

>She takes a small step back as the tree falls and holds up a finger to her mask, as if shushing him. She then simply points to the ground. He can't make out anything she's saying though.<

Plat

Esredes: >Even if he could hear, he’s probably too high up to make it out.< >But he doesn’t care what it is. He’s just trying to figure out why she’s coming outside like this. He doesn’t like this.< >He inhales a deep breath, and suddenly charges downward, firing a disorient beam towards her. Whether it hits or not, he’s quickly flying back out of the range of the gas.<

Momo

>She manages to move out of the way, gliding with ease. As she watches him fly out of range, she starts to head back into the house.<

Plat

Esredes: >He lands in a tree to catch his breath. He’s going to be there a minute recovering stamina, watching the gas.<

Momo

>There's nothing but silence for a few minutes. The gas simply floats around the building. Finally, he notices some movement again in one of the windows. It's hard to tell what's going on, but it becomes clear as the doors open up. The masked figure returns, dragging something out. Something tied up. It's difficult to make out, especially with a tied bag around their head, but Esredes can spot the glean of a single gauntlet the tied up figure is wearing.<

Plat

Esredes: >Alise... is that her, or did she put a gauntlet on someone else?< >He hesitates, observing carefully to see what she does.<

Momo

>The masked figure looks up at Esredes and pulls out a gun. They hold it against the tied up figures head. Looking up at him, they simply point towards him, then point away, as if an order telling him to leave... or else.<

Plat

Esredes: >....Oh.< >Fuck. Of course she has a gun.< >At least Alise is still alive. And I found her. That’s important information.< >I can’t do anything from this distance away... but now I have a plan.< >He shifts all the way to knochen form and obliges, flying back towards where he came from. Let her think I’m gone. I will be back to take her out for good.< >He flies off towards the nochmal headquarters.<