“NO; GET AWAY!” Another lazy afternoon exploring the city had quickly taken a turn for the worst. Everyone's ears perked up in unison as a scream pierced the air shortly after. Something was happening, that much was certain. The road was where the incident occurred had been fairly populated and one such person by the name of Alric, like so many others on that fateful day, happened to be within earshot so when the crowd started to form he couldn't help but move in for a closer look. About twenty or so people had stopped outside of a two story building nestled between a pair of larger shops. “What happened? What is this place?” As expected answers for the former weren’t readily available, but at least he was able to learn a little information. The building he was looking at now was an orphanage that had been established in Stokbon a few years back, though no one could recall anything like this happening before. With no guards in sight and time still ticking on, would anyone be brave (or foolish) enough to go inside? Alric pushed his way to the front before turning to face the onlookers. “I don't know why you're all just standing there; we can't leave if someone's in trouble!” A quick glance through the crowd showed that most were just common people, those he wouldn't expect to have any martial training at all. If trouble really was going down inside the orphanage he wasn't sure if bringing them along would be helpful or just mean he’d have to end up protecting them too. Either way the fact remained he really didn't want to do this alone. “...I-I’m going inside. If you can fight please come with me. Everyone else try to find help!” It felt weird to be the one giving orders, but it seemed to work as people started to hurry off in different directions. Too bad he couldn't afford the luxury of waiting. Not when he had the power to help.
It had finally come! After the week from hell, complete with three meetings, parent-teacher conferences, and a whole stack of tests to grade, it was time for gaming. Magdalyn was practically buzzing with excitement as she hurried down the busy street, narrowly avoiding running into unsuspecting NPCs. Her mind was already a half-mile away, at the stable where she had left Altivo. During the war, she had ridden out of necessity, driving the stallion with a steely need and hard hands. That was not how she preferred things, opting for a real relationship and trust when possible. Altivo was already skittish enough, and man-handling him into submission using her increased riding skill did not feel right. So she had decided to start from the beginning, training him the way she might any flighty equine, and she had dedicated an entire Saturday to it. What could possibly be better? The panicked cry yanked her from her musing. Immediately, the girl's muscles tensed, and her hand instinctively moved for the spear strapped to her back. It only took a brief sweep of her surroundings to notice the crowd, gathered on the other side of the city street. Had she been so caught up in her horse-consumed thoughts that she missed such a horde of people? The thuds of her boots on the hard earth were lost to the nervous murmuring of the mob. Only one voice rose above the din as she drew closer. The source was another player, and had the situation been different, she might have found humor in the way he commanded the throng. He did not look much like a leader, standing a full head shorter than her, and his body nearly as willowy as her own. She would bet he had a few years on him too, or else he simply had boyish features. But what Magdalyn found on his young face, and in those eyes, was an uneasy marriage of determination and concern. There was something commendable about that particular mixture. "I'll help," she stated softly, moving up alongside the stranger. Mags expertly freed the spear, and gave it a quick twirl to cement her offer. "Lead the way."
Alright. This was good. An internal sigh of relief washed over his body as the woman stepped forward and afterward Alric unsheathed his own sword while then turned to face the building once again. Oddly enough, when he reached for the knob the door ended up creaking open without much effort at all. In a way it was almost as if the orphanage was daring them to come inside. A quick peek didn't point bring them any closer toward finding the source of the yelling since no one was in sight. “Uh… Ladies first?” Alric asked with sheepish grin. It wasn't like he was actually going to allow that though. This was his idea and regardless of where it led he would have to be the first to walk the path set before them. With his resolve now steeled yet again, he stepped through the threshold and into the unknown… --- So far everything had been going fine. At the very least the light that trickled in through the windows provided good visibility. The entrance hall ran the entire length of the building; branching off into several other rooms on each side of the corridor and ending with a set of two staircases. On the left the stairs led up and granted access to the second level. But the right side led down to what Alric could only assume was the basement; an area which was effectively walled off by a metal gate that sported a big lock. The man tried his best to not let his boots make too much noise as he crept across the old wooden floorboards, but without any sort of stealth mastery it was impossible to completely mask their entrance. “Is it just me or is it too quiet now?” Given the noise from earlier it was odd that no one seemed to be home now. It wasn't like the orphanage was that big either, so there were only a handful of places someone would be able to hide. Stopping in front of the first room and at a loss for what they should do, he turned his full attention to Magdalyn. “It might be faster if we split up… What do you wanna do?”
Perhaps it was the quiet that the man had commented on, or the overall atmosphere of the entrance hall, but Magdalyn's skin was peppered with goosebumps. The unease had settled on her chest, slightly hindering her ability to draw a deep breath. Still, when she spoke, her tone remained even. "I don't mind splitting up," she informed her new companion. In truth, the idea unsettled her. But was the house really as frightening as it seemed? Or was her overactive imagination, paired with the words of the other player, adding a foreboding that would otherwise not exist? "But," she continued briskly, holding her free hand up in the universal gesture of caution, "it'd be good to know what I'm looking for. I know we're in a hurry, but I don't even know what this building is." Loosing a small shrug, she admitted, "If there were any signs outside, I missed them when I ran in here." The expectant silence that fell between them was oddly suffocating. Fortunately, it was quickly shattered by the sound of footfalls overhead. The boards creaked and groaned in protest, but the sound stopped nearly as quickly as it had begun. Whoever was moving on the second floor was either moving quickly, or very slowly, most likely an attempt to remain quiet. Suspicious. Her curiosity took hold. "I'll take the upstairs," she told him. "If you're game sweeping down here, we could tag-team that creepy looking basement."
Alric brought a hand up to hold his chin to express how much consideration he was putting behind the woman's words. Till this point the question of what they were actually looking for hadn't even dawned on him. Someone who was in trouble? Or maybe now it'd be more accurate to just say they were looking for anyone in the building who could have made the cries from earlier. He opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could escape a sound far too loud to just be chalked up as the house settling rained down from the ceiling and effectively cut him off. Maybe it was just a mouse. That was an optimistic way of looking at it. But his gut was telling a different story. He'd just have to give a brief explanation so they could carry on with their search. “Sorry, I thought you knew the situation when you offered to come along. From what I was able to gather outside this is an orphanage; a pretty old one too. I suppose we're looking for the people who live here, so a caretaker or any of the kids. That's about all I know… Uh…” In the heat of the moment he had forgotten to even ask for her name. Or give his own for that matter. Now didn't seem like the best time to ask. Working alongside someone he couldn't properly address would only make this task more difficult though. With that in mind he figured giving an actual introduction wouldn't hurt anything. “I never got your name- Mine's Alric and I'm fine with looking around down here on my own. Just yell if you find anything, okay?”
Magdalyn gave a short laugh that only held faint hints of humor. She recognized that this was no laughing matter, but she also found his statement to be somewhat amusing. "No," she told him, shaking her head, and sending her long mane of blue hair cascading over her shoulder. "I didn't stop to check out what I was jumping into. I just heard that someone needed help." And that's just so like me, isn't it. After her new companion paused, Mags spoke. "An orphanage? Spooky. Also makes me a little more worried, since it could have been a kid who screamed earlier." An uncomfortable silence fell between them as she took brief look around. "Not many kids here, for an orphanage. If we can't find the scream, I guess our next order of business is finding where all the little ones are. Assuming, you know, that this still operates as an orphanage." Her long legs carried her a few paces away, before she turned back to the dark-haired player. "Name's Magdalyn," she informed him, giving a quick two-finger salute. "Most people just call me Mags though." And with that, she turned and took the stairs two at a time. Consumed by the transfer of information, and the introductions, she had nearly forgotten the footsteps she had heard. Now, as she strode onto the upstairs landing, it came rushing back. A sharp shiver shot through her, slowing her previously quick gate. What was it that she would find up here?
