T - Gobbo, Kari, Vyn

[Nathalia]

((Amherst was helping out a homeless man from the Benyan for a bit earlier this day.
While successful in his endeavors, the sky began to darken and his hastened attempt to get home seems to have been met with an odd rolling mist and an inability to find his way in the half-light and odd roil of spicy scents an scuttling sounds.

Meanwhile, Remi and Josephine met up with one another over coffee in the morning and went wandering.
Though...it became dark rather quickly and Rosemary is nowhere to be seen...
Crap.
Their wanderings will take them by an old, dusty, second-hand bookstore and dear Amherst stuck outside of it, having passed the thing three times already.
An odd, shuffling noise seems to be coming from the far end of the alley...be careful, everyone.))

[Kari Muffin]

Coffee wasn't something she normally had, but her mother had thought that it would be a good treat. And so she had been given enough cash to keep herself entertained for the morning. So she went to enjoy a cup and potentially get in a good deal of trouble. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement when she actually ran into someone interesting. A little strange but interesting.

Of course trouble soon followed when they had wandered off. And not to mention mom disappeared just when they were about to buy something cool. Had she wandered off or something? She did tend to do that even when she was supposed to be a responsible adult. "My Mom's four sometimes," she commented to her new companion. "If we find some sort of book store we'll probably end up finding her. Sorry about spoiling the fun."

She started down the streets again.

[Old Gobbo]

It was a dark and stormy night.

Dammit, that's never a good way to begin a story, let alone a walk home. And it hadn't even been dark when he'd left his lodgings. He was supposed to head to the Court of Diamonds, except he didn't know the way. Stopping to ask for directions turned into a tough bit of work helping a homeless Card set upon by some ruffians. They were clubs, twos and threes, mostly. He'd run them off and helped the down-on-his-luck man home.

Then, it was dark. It wasn't even late yet, not even close. Then, the fog came.

And so...it was a dark and stormy night.

And dammit, he could have sworn he'd been down this block before. He wasn't going in circles, was he? Amherst's wing and thumb gripped his halberd tighter than normal and he was wary. The air carried spicy scents and scuttling sounds. Was someone near? Maybe they could help.

"Hello, is anyone there?"

[Vyn]

Remi was in a little trouble this afternoon. He'd tried to con the wrong Card and now a rather high-ranked Heart was out for his head. No amount of false innocence or big, sweet eyes could save him now. Hiding was the next best option and he quickly ducked into a crowded little coffee shop to bunker down for the afternoon.

In the meantime, he located entertainment in the form of a strange little girl with tubes growing out of her back and a huge honker. Or rather, she found him. Something about her stare made him very certain she'd just taken something of his and though he wasn't sure how she'd managed such a feat, he decided to stay nearby just in case. It turned out to be worthwhile. Secluded in the back of the shop, his pursuer had apparently gotten bored and gone home.

Along with everyone else.

Josephine's mum had even up and vanished -- not uncommon of her apparently -- but the rest of the City had gone strange too. It was darker than it should be for the hour and a strange smell had begun to rise up through the unusually empty streets. How odd.

The little ferret wiggled his nose, trying to identify the scent, before Jo's comment drew him back to the girl. He smiled cheerfully. "Oh, it's no problem. You can always find more fun without adults anyhow..." He winked and was about to continue on when a voice called out nearby. So they weren't entirely alone?

Rounding the corner, the two approached an old run-down bookstore with a strange avian standing out front. He was... Benyan? by the markings, a diamond, and carried an impressive weapon. Remi wasn't immediately fond of him, but he may suit their purposes in this unusual turn of events.

"Hello!" He called back jovially and flashed the man his best winning smile.

[Kari Muffin]

The wolf was happy that Remi didn't seem upset. At least she hadn't dampened her new friend's mood with the disappearance of her mother. Though now that she noticed everyone seemed to be missing.

Which was just plain impossible wasn't it? And look at that, someone was calling out! So they weren't actually alone.

She rounded the corner besides Remi, noticing the brightly colored bird that seemed to be lingering in front of a book store. And he had a weapon. Maybe he had run into her mother? "Hey Mister! Have you seen anyone else around? In particularly a really odd Tulgey Queen?"

Her ears swiveled at the sound of something shuffling. Maybe it was her imagination. The canine paused as she stared in the general direction of the sound. She couldn't smell anything beyond... weirdness. Was that spice? This was starting to get worrisome for the city. Weird things in Tulgey were an entirely different cup of tea.

"Maybe we should get inside...."

[Old Gobbo]

Amherst heard the sound of voices coming towards him. The voices seemed higher pitched, but not just feminine...oh dear god, children. Out in the Outer Bazaar in the dark. Even he knew enough about the capital to know this was not a good idea.

"It's dark and this is no place for children at a time like this." He looked around as he heard the shuffling sound again. It wasn't coming from the children. Where was it? He looked down an alley. Was that where it was? He took a stance facing the alley, his feet spread apart and the halberd held low in case of a charge. "If you would be so kind as to stand behind me. I don't want to risk anything happening to you."

Oh crap, he probably shouldn't scare them. He relaxed his stance, but not enough that it couldn't be readied again quickly.

"I don't know what's going on, but you should probably stick close to me. Do you have homes nearby -- hell, homes in general -- that I can take you to?"

[Vyn]

Well the new guy was an Uppity Mr. Birdy, wasn't he?

Remi had to resist rolling his eyes as the Benyan Avian immediately set into the 'what are you doing here, it's dark and scary, let me protect you children' spiel. It lasted entirely too long and Remi couldn't be bothered to really listen. He remained firmly at Joe's side, head cocked toward the sound as he summed up his situation.

The sudden darkness, the lack of people, the strange smell... and now ominous shuffling. Something was most obviously not right, but that had been fairly obvious upon losing Joe's mother. Now was as good a time as any to acquire a nice meat shield, so perhaps running into Mr. Gallant hadn't been the worst thing in the world. If push came to shove, he would be more than happy to allow him to exercise his subconscious paternal instinct and sacrifice himself for 'helpless children'.

Remi returned to the conversation just as the man was mentioning sticking close and going home. In all honesty, he lived no more than five minutes away from where they stood but he wasn't particularly inclined to go there just yet. If he could avoid bringing strangers home, he would.

For now he'd just play oblivious child for as long as he could. "I live nearby," he piped up hesitantly with a sideways glance to Joe, "but we're supposed to be meeting up with her mum at the bookstore." Which was not technically a lie (Remi had learned a long time ago never to lie to Diamonds), since Joe had previously suggested they may find her near one. His gaze drifted upward momentarily, considering the strange clouds with a hint of concern. "If it's a storm brewing, we can wait it out it inside." And if it was a Lowlander with a taste for children's flesh he probably wasn't going to stop in for a used book.

[Kari Muffin]

Josephine was a little surprised that a complete stranger was being gallant like from one of her mother's fairy tales. He totally wasn't from around here was he? And didn't Benyans... oh whatever. Realm stereotypes weren't accurate as far as she was concerned.

"I don't live anywhere near here, and my mom should honestly be around here. She's a Queen of Clubs so... we should probably find her if anything dangerous is around," she said after a moment. She was happy that Remi was sticking closer to her, even though he was practically a stranger at least he was around her age and had it together. This gallant knight in shining armor might be something else entirely.

She padded towards the bookstore door. Might as well make the move and not wait for whatever was down the alleyway to come and get them. She sniffed the handle of the door for a moment before pushing it down and in. Maybe the smell would go away once they were safely indoors?

[Old Gobbo]

The child was right. Any port in a storm, as they say. "Excellent, let's go find your mother." Amherst slowly moved towards the bookstore, his eyes darting back and forth, looking for anyone -- anything -- coming out of the fog.

Amherst didn't like the sound of the shuffling and the sudden disappearance of people. He'd heard tales that strange things were happening. People were scared. People had died. He hadn't heard any specifics, but he was sure of two things. He would not show his fear, and no one would die on his watch.

And if they were to run into the girl's mother -- a queen, from the sound of it -- that would be all the better. Someone in a position of authority. He would have to resist the urge to say, "Ma'am, is this your Card?" God, that would be embarrassing, and he wouldn't allow it one bit.

[Vyn]

Whether the man had accepted Remi's logic or because he was afraid of angering a Queen, Remi was glad when the man relented to their desire to shack up in the bookstore for the time being. From Remi's experience, if something weird was going on than it was probably happening in the Outer Bazaar. Everyone that lived there was up to no good, himself included. Better to get off the street and out of the way of whatever may be happening.

Entering the shop was like slamming into a brick wall of made entirely of dust and moldy paper. The 'aged book smell' combined with the strange spices outside were enough to force Remi into a series of small sneezes. Utterly ungraceful. He shook himself off, cleared his throat casually, and caught up with Josephine. They were inside now, which promised to be more interesting than just going home, but there was a large possibility that they would not find Rosemary inside and thus remain stuck with the Benyan Avian. Those protector types could be painfully stubborn.

"Is someone dangerous about, Mister? You seemed worried about something other than the weather..."

As he spoke, Remi idly examined the bookstore they had just entered. After having lived with an Esterberry, the sight of so many books was oddly comforting despite the fact that the state of them would've made any true booklover cringe and maybe even weep. Remi did not weep because he didn't really care and casually sidled up to one of the shelves to investigate its contents... ah, of course, history. What a bland subject. He resisted a sigh and peeked around the shelf instead. No one was there.