Kuro Mirai

[Mini]

Devoe listened with interest as everyone else went about introducing themselves. Well, sort of introducing themselves. The big grumpy bear of a man stumbled over his name, making a very good show of informing everybody there that he didn't even trust them with his real name. The blind man introduced himself as Satoshi The Traveling Merchant, which was plausible enough. Devoe decided it would probably be rather rude to ask how on earth a blind man traveled around selling things he couldn't even see. He also decided it would be rather rude to ask Merissa why the specific method of killing people intrigued her. For some reason, that set off an alarm in the back of his mind, but he pushed it to the back of his attention for the time being. That sort of thing belonged in his mental filing folder of Interesting Tidbits To Bring Up Later.

"Gemmmking. What a weird name. Glad my parents didn't name me that," the archer murmured just loud enough for Gen to hear him. He ignored the man's attempt to bait him into another loud argument at his statement that Devoe was clearly crazy and going to get everyone killed. Devoe might be a hot head, but he was still level-headed enough to know when to pick a fight and when to just ignore a stupid jibe. A stupid jibe from a stupid man, he though to himself as a wicked grin flashed across his face. His attention did flicker to Issen and Merissa, though. Things seemed a bit heated between them, but Devoe hadn't caught what Issen had just growled at the girl. That was as good a cue as any for him to hop back into the conversation.

"All right, all right, so now that we all know everybody's names and have established that everybody has some sorta random reason for being interesting in stopping the who and the what and before everybody starts firing off ideas about the why's and the how's, how about we--"

Devoe never got a chance to finish his sentence.

A very high-pitched and blood-curdling scream erupted from through the woods and just around the river bend of where the group was gathered. Naturally, it was beyond the group's visibility, as the woods were especially thick off in all directions. The scream almost instantly grew much louder and terrified, then it abruptly was silenced. It was followed by a man's loud screaming, which at first sounded angry and alarmed, but quickly turned very distressed and anguished. The sounds were just far enough away that no specific words could be distinguished.

As fate would have it, two young lovebirds from Sakurajima had chosen that very night to meet out in the woods and run away together to start the rest of their lives. They met in the same spot where they had gone for their first date, which was the edge of the woods near the river, right where the bank was the smoothest and formed a nice little beach. It was several hundred yards away from the spot that Devoe had chosen. Both of the couple's parents disapproved of the relationship, for each wanted their respective son or daughter to marry someone of a higher ranking or a better job, or some silly nonsense like that. The youngsters were forbidden to see each other. They met in secret several times just long enough to plan their escape. The boy, who looked no older than seventeen, had been there first. He was quite nervous that his lover wouldn't actually show up, and his nerves had gotten the best of him, so he had actually been there for quite some time. The boy had heard a rustling in the woods behind him and turned around, nervous as could be. When his beloved came slowly creeping out of the woods wearing the most beautiful kimono he had ever seen, his legs had turned to jelly and his stomach had erupted into butterflies. He went running towards her, wanting nothing more to embrace her in his arms and never let her go. Her face had lit up like a new year's sunrise upon seeing his reaction to her, and she went running towards him.

Something else got to her first.

A small, strange looking thing came flying at her with incredible speed. Whatever it was came from out from the shadows of a large rock very close to the river. It plowed into her beloved, sending him flying into the sand. That was when she opened her mouth and screamed, for she feared he had been hurt. It wasn't until the thing was almost upon her that she saw the glint of steel, caught a glimmer of a pair of intense red eyes, heard the flapping of some sort of cloak or cape that she quickly realized that she was the one in danger. By the time she processed all of this, though, something sharp had sliced clean through her middle as if she were made of butter. Pain unlike anything she had ever felt spread through her body like an uncontrollable wildfire. She felt something warm and wet and sticky spreading out from her middle, running down her front and completely drenching her kimono. It was everywhere. Her special kimono was going to be ruined...

In the time for the girl's body to crumple to the ground and the boy to sit up and see her laying there in a puddle of blood and start screaming his head off, the shrouded and cloaked black thing that had killed her had vanished, seemingly into thin air. The only sign that it had even been there at all were several small-ish looking footprints left in the sand on the beach closer to the rock. They were spaced very far apart, and they appeared to have been left behind by generic looking sandals that were worn by just about everybody. After the girl's body, there was no sign of which direction they had gone. The footprints ended right in front of her body.

((edit: Added a bit more detail to the end, as I wanted something to be there for you guys to react to if your characters go charging off to investigate what happened.))

[Remus]

Merissa flinched when Issen had touched her. Besides not liking the contact, Issen touching her skin would have surely given her secret away to him. Foxes were clever, and Issen would have noticed the irregularity. She obviously didn't have a fever. Even if he had missed these things, by now he surely could have sensed her aura. She leaned in slightly while still trying to keep her distance from the demon.

"I think you know exactly what I am" she whispered in his ear, her voice suddenly different. It had lost it's sweetness.

A scream tore through the night air, Merissa's head snapped up in it's direction. "Looks like we wont have to wait for another victim." She exclaimed and she bounded off away from the group towards where the scream came from. It had cut off so quickly. Whoever had screamed, whatever had made them scream was just as fast as silencing them. A woman...Merissa had thought it sounded like a woman, or a girl perhaps. Now the screaming was male. Definitely male.

The fire pulsed within her as she burst into the clearing. She was sure for a second that the flames had begun to snake around her wrist, but when she looked there was nothing. Just her hand, normal as always.

A boy sat in front of her on the other end of the clearing. A boy who was shaking so badly, and obviously the one who had been screaming. He barely looked the age of adulthood but this was little time to take in every detail.

"What happened?" she demanded

[Cernan]

Issen's ears went flat back against his skull for a second before popping back up. The girl was a strange creature indeed. She was hot to the touch, and being closer he could feel something like a demonic aura. She also seemed to think that he should know what she was, perhaps creatures of her kind were common in the area. He was about to inquire further when he heard the screams.

His ears swiveled to the direction of the screams, picking out the location. He hesitated a second looking back to check that the others had heard it too, before taking off after Merissa towards the source of the disturbance. He burst into the clearing as Merissa began questioning the man. He was almost sick at what he saw. Blood. So much blood. He turned away from the scene taking a few deep breaths to regain composure before turning back.

The first thing he noticed were the foot-prints, three sets. He was on them in second, nose to the ground trying to sniff out what had happened. Three scents. There had definitely been an attacker, but who or what, or even where it could come from was more difficult. The scents were confused and scattered, and the stench of blood was everywhere. He glanced at the girl, dead, then the boy who seemed shaken and bruised, ut mostly unharmed. He got back up and walked over to the boy to address him.

"Who did this?" He tried to sound less demanding then had Merissa, not wanting to antagonize the poor creature.

[Mini]

"Hinata?! Hi-Hinata, get up! HINATA!"

The boy had managed to half-run, half-crawl over to the body of girl and had just grabbed her and started to shake her when Merissa came bursting through the trees. A strangled yelp slipped out of the poor lad as he started and pulled the dead girl's body closer to him, as if to protect her from any more harm. Tears streamed down his face. His front was covered in blood from where he had leaned against Hinata's body. Another person came crashing through the trees after the girl. This one had animal ears and a tail - was he a demon? The boy let out a terrified sounding whimper as Issen got down on all fours and started sniffing around the sand.

"I-I-I don't know! Hinata, sh-she was... we were g-gonna meet here, a-and... s-something... i-it just... flew p-past, a-and then it... I f-fell, she screamed, and I... sh-she's... sh-she's not br-breathing, a-a-a-and there's s-so mu-much blood! Please, please, you ha... you ha-have to help her!!" the poor boy sobbed as he clung to Hinata's body. "Hinata... Hinata, p-please, w-wake up! HINATAAAA!"

[Nayr]

Satoshi was paying minimal attention to Devoe. Sure, the man was nominally in charge and ostensibly had a plan of some sort to use the diverse skills of a group of total strangers to chase and take down a killer, but did he have to be so very boring about it? Anyway, it wasn't like Satoshi was here for any reason other than professional curiosity, but he couldn't say that. Not while his profession was traveling merchant, anyway. Before the utterly tedious tableau could continue to unfold, a sound tore across it unlike any Satoshi had heard in some time: A woman's scream, suddenly silenced. No matter what everyone thought the reason was for the feminine cry, the sudden silence could mean only one thing. Everyone else in the group reacted much faster than Satoshi did. His first reaction wasn't to dash off towards the sound, but rather to take a stance and listen. He knew well where the sound was coming from, but had nothing to gain from advancing recklessly. The forest could tell him where to step, of course, and where to stop, and where the body was and things of that nature, but he knew enough to know that any strike that could cut off her cry so effectively made her inconsequential in the equation. Even had he the inclination to help her, as soon as the cry went prematurely silent what was going to happen to her was unavoidable. He disregarded her utterly as the emotional trash she was to the developing reaction around him and focused on its center: the killer's escape. Having taken the target's life, the most important step of a killer's defining action was the escape. Particularly if the killer meant to escape without leaving evidence behind about their identity, that moment of escape would have to take place right in that moment immediately following the kill.

Not that he'd do anything about that escape of course, being a blind merchant by trade, but every bit of knowledge mattered in Satoshi's life regardless of its immediate usefulness. The taste of sea air, the smell of garbage, the sound of an owl soaring through the night, the whispered name of a lover, the subtle yet unmistakable tenseness of an old injury, the tiniest quaver in a voice that betrayed incomplete confidence, the little things that were said without thought. In the life of a blind merchant as well as in the life Satoshi pursued when no one saw, every little detail was to be carefully observed, lest it one day mean the difference between success and failure. So Satoshi listened. He used his every sense to try to take everything he could in that precious silence between the woman's death cry and the reaction of even the boy whose cry of horror would spur the little group into action. He lived in that silence, taking its every secret to consider in the moments to come. What he heard was a strange sound, one that he wasn't expecting and didn't quite understand. Not that he had the time, necessarily, to particularly make sense of what he'd heard before a male's scream tore across the area. A lover perhaps? Someone whom the killer wasn't interested in, and that was very interesting. Regardless, the little group sprang into action and dashed off towards where the sound had come from. Satoshi followed, following a pause to begin moving after he was sure that there wasn't anything more to hear. He arrived at the scene shortly after everyone else, and just in time to hear the boy attempt to stammer out some rudimentary explanation of what had happened. He had the girl in his arms, clearly, and the smell of blood drowned out everything in the area. The girl was definitely killed within moments of where they stood. There was a warmth in the air that could only belong to someone who had died only moments before. Not that any of the rest would know something like that, and it was one more thing Satoshi would be keeping to himself, but he did contribute one thing.

"Give the lad a moment," he said loudly enough to be heard by his companions but hopefully quiet enough not to be heard by the boy of which he spoke, "He won't be very helpful with his girlfriend so freshly slain."

[Mini]

At the sound of the blood-curdling scream, Devoe flinched ever so slightly. It wasn't that the sound had completely unnerved him, but it was mostly just that he absolutely hadn't been expecting to hear a noise quite as terrible as that. It was the sound of sheer terror, one that only someone who was on the brink of physically being scared to death could make. He had been unfortunate enough to hear similar sounds many times in his past, but most times he had been well prepared to hear them, or at least in the mindset that hearing them wouldn't completely break him. No, he had been broken of most of his emotions quite some time ago. The fact that the voice abruptly cut off could only mean one thing, and Devoe did his best to prepare himself to face whatever they were about to find.

Merissa and Issen ran off without hesitation towards the source of the sound. Devoe was about to run off immediately after them, but he noticed the blind man standing stock still besides him. He appeared to be concentrating very, very hard on... something. It wasn't until the other two were nearly out of sight that Satoshi chose to move forward. With a heavy sigh, Devoe glanced over to Gen and then followed after Satoshi. What he saw when they finally reached the source of the sound was not entirely what he had been expecting. It wasn't the mutilated blood-covered dead body that surprised him, though. What caught him off guard was the fact that there was a younger looking boy there clutching the girl's body in a death grip. He was covered in her blood and there were tears streaming down his face. The poor boy was babbling incoherently as he clung to the girl's body, murmuring her name amidst his heart-wrenching sobs. Devoe's heart went out to the lad, but he kept his face emotionless as he scanned the area. Merissa and Issen were all ready there questioning the lad, but Satoshi said it best - there was no use trying to question someone who's entire life had just been turned upside down and inside out.

If this was done by our killer, then this is a bit of a game changer. Why kill just one person? Was she a specific target? If she was, why? From the looks of her, she was nothing more than a young girl with no real responsibilities or duties. Looks to me as if these two were meeting out here for a bit of fun or to run away together or something. Why else would she be dressed up in a formal kimono like that? Why kill one person and leave a witness?

"I don't like this," Devoe murmured under his breath, frowning as he gazed around at the carnage.

[Gen]

Gen didn't really have much time to process whether or not he appreciated the young man's sense of humor toward his name before he heard the scream. His heart skipped a beat and he let out a soft gasp, looking up and off in the direction it had come from. His eyes darted around and he watched as everyone rushed off toward the scene. He hesitated. This wasn't his fight. It was an accident that he had even come to be with this group again anyway. He grumbled to himself and then huffed when even the blind man had hobbled off into the woods faster than he could make a decision.

The large man stood up and brushed himself off. He turned and walked back to the tree he had tried to rest under to retrieve his sword, and then ran off in the direction of the scream. He didn't know why he was even following them. What if the killer was still there? They would be facing a confrontation with an enemy that no one here knew anything about so far. He didn't like it, but he also couldn't just watch clearly well meaning people rush into a dangerous situation.

It wouldn't be too long before Gen had finally caught up with the rest of the band, though he as the last on the scene. He panted softly, hunching over for a moment, hands on his knees. He slowly looked around, not seeing much really, but a figure off in the distance. Everyone was converging on him, and as Gen looked closer he could see that the man was holding something. Gen sighed and stood up, walking up closer to everyone.

The moment he was able to register what he was seeing, Gen stopped. His heart lurched and he felt a cold chill run down through his body as he looked down on the man. His breath hitched and he'd take a step back. A sickening feeling welled in his stomach and his heart beat a little faster. The man was holding someone...

Gen frowned, his hands balling up tight. He forced himself to maintain a stoic expression and forced himself to watch as the man tried to wake his apparent lover. She must have meant so much to him. To now have to realize that he could never have her again after tonight must be torture. Gen felt a great pity for this man, and something else. Seeing this man have to endure such a pain, Gen could almost feel a bit of anger for him. It was wrong that this should happen. It was wrong that someone with power would take advantage of those without.

The bear suddenly realized something. All of the victims were no longer all virtual nobodies. The killer had this time actually left close loved ones behind, and more-over, a witness. It confirmed something for Gen. The killer wanted someone's attention. Why else risk killing tonight after a group of outsiders practically announced they would be out looking for the killer? Why leave a witness now that could possibly lead the group to identifying the killer?

The man looked down to Devoe with a frown and grumbled, "I bet you're always getting in over your heard, huh?..."

[Mini]

A particularly painful sounding sob caused Devoe's emotionless expression to waiver for just a moment. With a heavy sigh, he turned and glanced mournfully at Gen and just shook his head at him. "It's been a while since I've come across a scene as grisly as this. What was done here was murder. Pure and simple murder. Does it matter what the motive behind it was, if there even was one? No." Devoe rubbed the back of his head, pulling at his short strands of auburn hair. "The reason I want to stop who or whatever is behind these heinous crimes is to prevent another situation like this one happening. It's obvious these two were lovers who had their whole lives ahead of them. Now one of them has had their life cut short, and the other is left behind, staring into what to him must surely be a black future."

Devoe glanced around to the others and let out another sigh. "Any of you good with comforting others in their time of need? Merissa, aren't women supposed to good at that sorta thing? You all have that maternal instinct, or something like that. Why don't one or two of you try and get the boy away from here? He doesn't need to be seeing this anymore. Take him back to the village, get him somewhere warm and dry. Find some village elders and have them come out here and see this. Make sure they bring something out here to cover the body up and transport her back. Isn't there a temple back there, too? Maybe a priest or priestess should be notified, too. Yeah, probably wouldn't be a bad idea. When he's calmed down, see if you can get any information out of him. He was here. He must have seen something. The rest of you, maybe we can look around and see if we can find anything our killer left behind. A hair, a scrap of clothing, a footprint or two, places where the grass or snow or sand looks a little off. Those of you who can sense such things, is there anything else you could find that we can't? A lingering scent, a trace of a demonic aura, different blood scents, anything. Nobody is so perfect that they can make a one hundred and one percent clean getaway."

[Remus]

Merissa sighed feeling her initial anger dissipating. For a moment the scent of blood the sight of the girl's dead body had momentarily propelled her into her defensive mode. The need to attack was strong then, especially since even the boy himself could have killed her and then faked his emotions afterwards. She had seen such things before. The anger had melted away now. She found herself relating to his pain. If someone- anyone ever killed Raven, she would have killed everyone without distinction until she had caught whoever was responsible. This poor boy was in a different stage of loss. He was still grieving. She briefly gave Devoe a look that said she wasn't completely sure if she were capable of doing this before she put on the softest smile she could before slowly approaching the boy.

"shhhh." she whispered softly. "It's going to be alright. I'm going to help you get back together. She wouldn't want to see you like this. Hinata would want you to be strong." She reached down and gently pried the boy's arms off the dead girl. "Let's go back to the village. Staying here will only hurt you more, and we don't know if it's still out there. We'll take care of her, I promise you. You'll get the chance to say goodbye, but first I want to make sure your safe."

[Cernan]

Issens's ears perked up at the mention of those with stronger sense being able to pick up what they could. He had better senses than most, and there were several things he could verify, and several which he could speculate on. He was impressed by Devoe's thinking, he was a detective for sure. He may be able to make sense out of the small details that Issen himself could pick out, but not piece together. Issen turned from the boy, letting Merissa do her best to comfort him, to Devoe.

"There are several things I have picked up on. One is that there were three people here, that is the boy, the girl, and the attacker. There are three distinct scents. The attackers though is confused and fading, and doesn't seem to.. lead anywhere beyond here. I can tell you though that this spot was carefully chosen. Where the attacker came from, the river would have washed away any scent or sign of where they had come from, and the forest would quickly cover it as well. It may be a coincidence we were here, but I don't think so. The victim could have been random, but the location was not, it was close enough for us to notice, but provides the cover to not reveal the killer."

Issen turned to the forest, his ears still sticking up and roving. If the killer was in there somewhere he would likely be able to pick him out by sound, if he knew what he was listening for. He turned then to Satoshi, his ears still moving around trying to pick out anything.

"Satoshi was it? Your hearing I'd imagine might be almost as good as mine, but much more trained. If you should hear anything out of the ordinary, let me know, we might be able to locate the killer if they are still nearby."

[Nayr]

Satoshi had certain advantages in scenes like this, not the least of which being blind men don't get disturbed by grisly murder scenes. He could smell the blood well enough, but that was about it. He was in a completely passive mode until someone...Issen, was it?...said something significant.

"There are several things I have picked up on," he reported, "One is that there were three people here, that is the boy, the girl, and the attacker. There are three distinct scents. The attackers though is confused and fading, and doesn't seem to.. lead anywhere beyond here. I can tell you though that this spot was carefully chosen. Where the attacker came from, the river would have washed away any scent or sign of where they had come from, and the forest would quickly cover it as well. It may be a coincidence we were here, but I don't think so. The victim could have been random, but the location was not, it was close enough for us to notice, but provides the cover to not reveal the killer."

An interesting hypothesis. Perhaps the killer was aware of their little band and now taunted them. Probably very thrilling, but definitely very arrogant. Hold up a moment...

"Satoshi was it?" Issen continued, oblivious to Satoshi's thoughts, "Your hearing I'd imagine might be almost as good as mine, but much more trained. If you should hear anything out of the ordinary, let me know, we might be able to locate the killer if they are still nearby."

"Actually," Satoshi commented immediately, having just put things together in his head, "You mentioned that the killer's scent just stops? Perhaps you should check the trees above the spot where the scent vanishes. In the space between the girl's scream and the lad's I heard something, and I wasn't certain what it was before just now. It was a sort of fluttering or perhaps flapping, like a cloak or a large pair of wings maybe. It was too brief to say more for certain, but maybe the killer leapt upward from the spot where the scent vanishes."

He would have liked to be able to say more, but the trees were quiet on the subject. It was likely the killer had completely escaped by now, but he'd keep his senses tuned in case there was another sign.

[Mini]

The distraught sobbing boy tried to cling to Hinata's corpse as Merissa came over to him and, as gently as she could, pried him away. The lad was covered in blood. He stood on his own for a grand total of three seconds before he turned to Merissa and buried himself into her chest, clinging to her nearly as tightly as he had been clinging to Hinata. The only semi-audible thing he seemed to be sobbing was Hinata's name over and over again.

Devoe ignored the boy's heart-wrenching cries and instead walked off towards the river as Issen spoke in a soft voice. It was loud enough for Devoe to hear, but thankfully quiet enough to be out of earshot to the boy and perhaps Merissa, too... though, if Devoe's suspicions were correct, there was more to the only female of their group than there appeared to be. The fox said he could pick up three specific scents intermingled with the blood, but that the scent of the one who was assumed to be the killer's was confused and fading. How could a scent be confusing? Did he mean that the scent itself was confusing and unfamiliar, or that it was just too jumbled in with everything else to really pick out? Devoe made a mental note to ask him what he meant when he was finished speaking.

The archer turned his attention towards the shoreline as Issen explained his theory about this spot being chosen for a specific attack. He had to admit, the fox had very good points. Then again, most of the other attacks had taken place in similar locations - out of sight from most everyone, in a dark or shady area, in the middle of nowhere... the only exception here was that the killer had left a witness. Frowning, Devoe started pacing back and forth a bit as he continued listening to Issen. He worked better when he moved. The fox had turned his attention to the words, but unfortunately, the only sounds that could be heard were the soft rustling of tree branches in the wind. Not a creature stirred anywhere. The only thing Issen would probably be able to pick up on was a strong taint of blood lust and delight in the murderer's scent. That, and if he focused enough, he might be able to tell that there were two decidedly human scents and one that seemed human enough... but there was something a little off about it.

Just as Satoshi started speaking up about checking the trees, Devoe saw something by the large boulder close to the shoreline in the sand that shouldn't have been there. It was a footprint. It was just one, but it was very deep, the kind that were made when someone took off running hard and fast. Tuning out from his companion's conversation, Devoe scurried over to the footprint, mindful not to step on it or mingle his own in with it. The mud and sand of the shore were only slightly moist, not really enough for someone to leave prints if they were treading lightly. The first thing Devoe did was figure out which direction it was pointed in - it was aimed straight at where Hinata's body was resting. The shape of the shoeprint, for that is what it actually was, made it difficult to tell if it was a left foot or a right foot. It looked as if whoever had made the footprint had 1) small feet 2) standard style sandals that most every villager in the area wore 3) a nick in the upper right part of the sandal, right around the balls of the feet 4) had landed with quite an impact.

Landed? Yes, it did look as though the figure had either fallen from the sky or jumped down from a higher up place. Devoe glanced around and thought he could make out a rough outline of where the other foot might be, but pebbles covered most of the ground from there onwards. Frowning, Devoe stood back up and rubbed the back of his head as he puzzled over where this piece of information fit in with everything else. It was then that he heard Satoshi say something very interesting.

"In the space between the girl's scream and the lad's I heard something, and I wasn't certain what it was before just now. It was a sort of fluttering or perhaps flapping, like a cloak or a large pair of wings maybe. It was too brief to say more for certain, but maybe the killer leapt upward from the spot where the scent vanishes."

"Wait. What did you say?" Devoe asked slowly, turning back towards Issen and more specifically Satoshi. "You heard a sound like fluttering or flapping. Which one did it sound more like - a cloak, or wings? Because if you think it's possible it could have been wings..." The archer's voice trailed off excitedly as he gestured for both of them to come over to him. He took two steps before he realized Satoshi couldn't see him gesturing, then smacked himself in the forehead for his moment of stupidity. "Come over here, both of you. I found a footprint, possibly two, maybe even more, but it's hard to make them out because from right where it is to the girl's body, the ground is strewn with pebbles and rocks. The mud and sand near the shorelines is damp, but not really enough for anyone to make decent prints if they're just walking. However, look right here," he said, crouching down low next to the footprint he had spotted.

"Look, see how deep it is? You don't make this kind of impact if you're walking, or even if you're just running. It almost looks like whatever made this print landed here. It's possible they could have jumped off of that boulder over there, but that's a pretty fair distance to jump and land straight on your feet like that without bowling over sideways or losing your balance. This person landed here, then pushed off with some pretty impressive force and speed and went lunging off towards the girl. The strides of where I think the other prints are, at least the next two, are spaced far apart. They were running, almost racing. The owner of this footprint also appears to be rather on the small size. See the size of the sandal print? Compare it to mine," he said, placing one of his feet down next to it, careful not to push it down into the sand. Devoe's boot was a good two inches bigger than the footprint on the ground. "So whoever it was is human enough to be wearing sandals. Normal, run-of-the-mill sandals, although sturdy, but not sturdy enough. Look up here. There's a small nick towards the upper part of the sandal, almost like it got caught on something while they were walking. The tread is a little worn away, too. These sandals have seen some wear and tear."

Devoe leaned forward on his feet, crouching in a very thoughtful looking position. "So whatever we're looking for is small enough to have feet this small. It's fast, it's stealthy, it kills with one hit, probably uses a sharp weapon to do its killing, it is possibly wearing a cloak, and it possibly has wings," he surmised, sighing softly as he stood back up and glanced around some more, looking for more clues. There was the girl's body, but Devoe didn't really want to look there if he could avoid it.

"Issen, you said the killer's scent just stops right around the girl's. I don't know any human who can just up and vanish like that. If they would have taken the time to climb a tree, you'd be able to tell, wouldn't you? Oh, and what did you mean about the scent being confused? Does it smell like anything you've ever encountered before? Does it... Does it smell human at all?" he asked, frowning darkly. "I'm starting to think that this creature isn't human at all, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Mmm..." His voice trailed off again as his thoughts finally quieted down. With another deep sigh, he glanced back at both of them. "Riddle me this - If either of you had done this, which way would you flee?"

[Remus]

Merissa, not used to being hugged by strangers, initially flinched away from the boy's sudden embrace, but grudgingly allowed him to cry against her. Still that part of her wanted to shake him back into his senses, but she knew the group would most likely turn on her if she tried. They didn't exactly understand the type of life she lived. Feeling sorrow for those who had departed this world only made it harder to push oneself further in it. Besides there was a killer on the loose, she should really get back to that. The boy continued to sob the girl's name into her shoulder. If it were her. If She had lost Raven, it would be the opposite, her rage would consume her and the fire that dwelt inside of her would unleash itself until there was nothing left of the world.

Devoe and the other's were talking, they were seemingly discussing something on the ground. A footprint perhaps or some other clue left behind by their mysterious killer. Not wanting to miss out on anything further, and still wanting to make sure her duty to keep the surviving victim safe she called over to them.

"This one is still shaken up. It would to no good to him to keep him here any longer. He should be safer back at the inn, and perhaps he will sober up a bit once he's away from-" she broke off and nodded towards the girl's body. Merissa didn't want to refer to her at the moment. It might cause an even worse reaction in him.

"I'll take him back to the tavern in the village, and once I am sure he is safe and can manage I will return."

That is if Raven hasn't come home yet she thought. he wont take kindly to having to play nice with others

Merissa turned back to the boy and whispered into his ear so the others didn't hear. "Come now, I'm going to take you home. I'd rather you do it on your own two feet, since I don't like the idea of having to drag you back. Show some strength, the strength she would have wanted for you to have!"

[Gen]

It was difficult to listen to the young man. He had experienced his fair share of loss, and while some might find new strength and wisdom in their loss, for Gen it felt just the opposite. He empathized deeply with the young man, and like a flood many old and buried emotions began to surface again. He would be useless in the hunt for clues for now, but after listening to the others, a thought did occur.

"If the scent doesn't continue on into the woods beyond this clearing..." Gen said softly, glancing around for a moment. He rubbed the back of his neck and then rolled his eyes, looking away with a huff. "I once witnessed a man take a step toward this lake... and in the blink of an eye he was on the other side. Not even a leap; just a step. Something about him wasn't quite right... but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little fascinated."

He didn't really want to be involved, but how could he just sit by after witnessing something like this? Gen glanced over to Issen with a raised brow. He would refrain from revealing that the man he'd seen he knew to be a fox. It wasn't relevant. His thought was more that, at this point, if any of this band of misfits would be useful in moving Devoe's investigation any further, it would be the fox. Gen's senses weren't as sharp, and while he had no reason to doubt the blind man's abilities, he was more willing to bet on a fox's nose over a human's.

"Anyway, it's just a thought, but maybe they used the river to cover their tracks...?" Gen said.

The man turned back and walked over to Merissa and the young man that she had been charged with watching over. His brow furrowed some and he frowned as he looked down to them. Slowly Gen would kneel next to the young man and placed a large hand on his shoulder. He looked up to the girl.

"I won't be very much use here right now... I'll carry him, if you don't mind." The man said.

Without another word Gen would slide one arm under the man's legs and the other down around his back and then lift him with ease. He stood much taller than he normally would, but with the added weight and the hike back to the village, he was sure his back would thank him for observing the proper posture for a little while.

[Remus]

"No, it's fine." Merissa answered taking note of how easily Gen had lifted the boy. In a way the man reminded her of Raven. Before the eastern war he too felt the constant need to hide his demon half. Whatever Gen's past was, it must have been as cruel as theirs was. She felt sorry for him then and hoped be too would be able to ignore the ideals of others enough to show his true self with pride.

speaking of which she thought I should get back before he starts to worry and look for me. That will be a very awkward meeting

"I'll come with you!" She told Gen suddenly. "Perhaps when we get him home, he will calm down a bit. Who knows? There might even be more to this. We can reconvene with the others later, after they have searched the area." She turned to the others. "That is if it sounds good to you all?"