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Lost & Found [Closed, Mission]
Sept 21, 2019 16:04:44 GMT
edited on Sept 21, 2019 16:05:14 GMT by Natalie Chevalier
MISSION NAME: Lost and Found
CLIENT: Town Mayor of a small mountain town
CHARACTERS: closed, Natalie and Kasumi
MISSION BRIEFING: A young man hunting in the valley has gone missing in the wake of mudslides caused by severe rain. With most of the town’s men engaged otherwise, the mayor has turned towards travellers in the hopes of finding that man and helping him, if he was injured. The task is, naturally, time-sensitive.
She was just sitting there, watching the rain fall in front of her. No one else wanted to be outside today, due to it. But Natalie did not mind. It wasn’t that she got melancholy easily or anything like that. It was just better to be outside, get some fresh air on the small balcony of the inn, and watch the street. It was just about all she could do, until someone else could be found. This was not the biggest town, but by now news should have travelled to just about anyone who might have been able to help. It was almost noon already, after all. The client had said that he would look for someone, once they’d realized that a healer would be useful to be present once they found the missing young man, man that it would be better to have someone else with her. Just in case. It was an all too common problem for her.
In this case it was warranted. And a bit unlucky, given that she had been travelling alone when she had gotten stuck in this city. Heavy rain had caused mudslides that were blocking the roads and most of the people that could have ventured out to find the boy had set out a day’s march or so away to clear the road before anyone had noticed him missing. It was not clear if the incidents were related, but the request was hastily made. So far, she had signed up and been given information. Once someone else was found, they would be sent to this one of the three inns, allowing the team to form up. It was not the most dangerous mission, but if that man was still alive in the valley but had gotten inured…well, any second counted.
And Natalie, clad in a white rain coat with a cowl – currently not pulled up, of course – sat there and waited, watching said seconds fall from the grey skies.
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Lost & Found [Closed, Mission]
Sept 22, 2019 21:57:30 GMT
edited on Sept 25, 2019 22:56:34 GMT by Kasumi Ito
When it comes to rainy days, Kasumi had conflicted feelings about them. On one hand it was soothing to watch and perhaps even be the right ambience noise for her to listen to while reading or solving her puzzle. On the other hand, she simply detested being drenched wet and rarely she had any clothes to spare. An umbrella sometimes felt too inadequate for a downpour but she didn't like raincoats either. Despite that, there's something that the girl would brave even through the stormy weather.
A scent of mystery.
A primary motivator for the purplehead mage, even moreso than jewels. Sure, it wasn't quite as big a case as she had hope to solve when she first started to join the business but it was also the first one she ever had since she joined. But every great mage starts their journey with little steps.
Carrying an umbrella, the girl would look for the partner she was assigned for on this task. One good thing about the rain was that it provided an easy identification should she need to find someone out in the open. Noticing the one that matched the description, she would head over to her side and gave the woman a once-over. The blonde exuded an air of nobility...or at the very least, someone who live in a rather comfortable lifestyle.
"I take it, you're my partner for this mission?" Kasumi asked as she stood next to her. "Kasumi Ito, I'm the mage assigned for this search and rescue mission."
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The rain truly made it easy sometimes. Natalie, too, did not have a hard time identifying her would-be partner, even before that person turned towards her. There were not many people out in this weather. At least none would go out without a good reason. Meeting up with someone so that they could go and search for a lost person was probably one of them. A young woman with an umbrella approached Nat and a mutual evaluation ensued. This one had an odd hair colour that matched her eyes. The expression seemed somewhat neutral and she did not use a lot of words. Instead, the stranger went straight for the business and introduced herself.
“Natalie Chevalier, but Nat is fine.” A hand was offered for a brief shake as she got up. There really was no more point in sitting down and resting. It likely did not matter at all how quickly they got to work. But there was a slim chance that their tardiness could fail the mission. Hence, there was no point in dallying around. Whether or not her hand was shook, Natalie would motion towards the street and start moving. “I am here to assist you. Or you to guard me, whichever you prefer,” the blonde added, calmly and gently, though her strides had purpose. “I am a healer, so I will take care of the missing person if he is injured. And if you have any injuries along the way. However, I fear that I will be rather useless otherwise.”
On her way off the premises, Natalie would grab her staff and bag, lightly packed so they could move easily. “Shall we do the rest of the talking on the way, or do you have any preparations to make? I don’t wish to rush you, the client just said we should depart as soon as possible.”
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"Pleased to meet you Nat. You may call me Kas if you wish."Kas replied as she took the hand offered and shook them briefly. She would then followed her into the street gestured though she kept her eyes focused on the girl. The girl had introduced herself as a healer though she made it quite plain that she had little use outside of her abilities.
"I'm sure you'll prove yourself to be more useful than you think. There are some things that one cannot do alone."Kasumi replied and flash her a small smile as she do. Her eyes took note of the bag and staff which she assumed was filled with her magical and medical equipment. When asked whether she needed to make any more preparations, she shook her head in response.
"No, I've already made adequate preparation. Let us make haste then." Kasumi replied while revealing the small satchel she carried. Within them were survival tools which she had expected to use while they were in the wild. Perhaps it was a good thing that Natalie was a medical professional, she had little experience in that regard. Speaking of experience....
"Have you been doing this long Nat?" Kasumi asked. The girl was quite curious of Natalie's experience...while she wouldn't exactly call herself a veteran just yet, she had done plenty of mission for her own guild.
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Kas. She would have to make sure to not confuse that with Cassie, for she knew someone of that name. It would be a bit rude. Not to any meaningful degree, but she tried to always be very polite in all her interactions. More often than not, it made others more at ease around her. Which was probably good, given that she would rely on this woman for protection.
Not that they would need a lot of it. As far as they knew, the only hostile elements here were, well, the elements. If they just watched their steps and acted carefully, it would probably be fine. The real difficulty would come from reaching the target within a time limit they did not even know. Maybe it was already too late. Maybe the young man was fine and would return on his own anyway. It was all possible, but no one was willing to take risks here.
They would head out into the rain, Nat huddling a bit under the umbrella as well. She was not invading personal space or anything, but if it was wide enough, she would like to have a bit less drizzle upon her coat. It would keep her somewhat dry underneath, but she liked to be extra safe. “Hmm, I guess you mean taking on random missions? For a few years now. Ever since I left home I get by doing this. It’s something I am somewhat good at, so I like to help others when I can.”
Okay, not the full truth but close enough. “What about you, Kas? Oh and what exactly do you do? In my experience, a bit of information sharing helps. I do understand if you want to keep it a secret, though. Many mages are like that. I just advertise being a healer because it feels prudent to let others know beforehand.”
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Lost & Found [Closed, Mission]
Sept 29, 2019 20:58:24 GMT
edited on Sept 29, 2019 20:58:48 GMT by Kasumi Ito
Kasumi didn't seem to mind that Natalie took shelter under the umbrella at all, even adjusting it's position so that they would both be covered from the rain. Natalie mentioned that she already had experience in this guild and Kasumi nodded in approval. The task would have been slightly more difficult should her partner be a complete greenhorn.
When asked of her own experience and specialty, Kasumi didn't answer right away. It was not that the purplehead didn't wish to reveal it to her nor that she openly distrust her, she had her mind focused on the task that she simply forget to return the favor. After taking a moment or two to deliberate her answer, she finally replied.
"Me? I usually take any sort of jobs I encounter but my specialty lies in tracking, infiltration, recovery of assets and assassination." The girl paused a bit as to give a subtle glance towards Natalie's direction, checking if she would express distaste with her facial emotion or with words.
"My magic lies in physical body enhancement. Basically if it's something anyone can do, I would be able to perform it as well but better. As for the task at hand, I'm experienced in tracking and combat...and my knowledge of survival aren't too bad either. With your medical skills they should be adequate for the task at hand."
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An assassin? If her coat allowed it, Nat’s ears would have perked up on that notion. It wasn’t as much about the profession itself, though. It was one like any other in many ways. Assassins were deadly, yes. But so were fighters. At the very least, the former seldom took action without being prompted. Or, realistically, without being paid to do so. Maybe that was her own mindset talking, but she quite believed that no one wanted her dead enough to hire one of those. One of the reasons why she tended to make sure to not make many enemies.
This person was very much included. “I can’t say I expected that,” she would reply and mean it. Certainly, she had not expected the other to be so candid about it. Usually, assassins did not go about their work telling everyone that they were assassins. Even disclosing it to a random person like this was probably be a bad idea. Yet, the girl had done so, for reasons unsaid. Natalie was not sure what to think of that, but she also did not want to dwell on it. There was a poignant pause in how the other had broached the subject, meaning that she did expect at least some comment in that regard.
Thus, Nat briefly coughed, collecting her thoughts. “But that sounds good. You seem to have the skills we need if we run into any trouble. And…Assassins, I have no real opinion. People should do what they are good at and if you like that, then it is what it is. There is no shortage of other people who would pick those jobs. I don’t think I could make any call on that.”
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A small chuckle escaped from her lips upon seing Natalie's reaction. Yes, she supposed admitting that particular profession of hers was a bit strange. But given the state of lawlessness of the world, she need not worry about the woman reporting her to authority. Most mage usually forego subtlety when it comes to executing another...but for this mage, subtlety was her main trade. There's a certain reassurance that what she do could be wave off as accident and not be traced towards her client.
"Very well. May I ask what can you tell me of the situation? It's my first time within this city and they told me that I should ask you further if I need more information.."
Besides the identification of the person she was searching for and one of her partner, the purplette knew quite little. Normally she would have studied everything up on the case but she had abandon her usual preparation in her enthusiasm to pick up the mission as soon as she saw it on the board. At the very least she knew that they're searching for the hunter and started to make her way there.
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Ah, well, that discussion had been tabled. Back to business it was. “I am not a resident either, so I hope you are not expecting too much, from one traveller to another.” That was probably the best moniker to use for the other. Reducing her to that admittedly unsavoury business would do neither of them any good. Thus, she rather went for what they had in common, both being travellers, strangers to this town and this situation. Probably, they were a terrible choice for solving its problems. Yet, there was little in terms of other options, really. And, in a darker corner of her mind, Natalie figured that outsiders were possibly best for this. They were expendable to the townspeople.
There was some information she could share, however. “They did give me more details. The roads currently affected by the mudslides mostly lead around the valley, as you may have seen, which in turn is largely used for hunting and herbing. No one lives there, but supposedly there aren’t any particularly dangerous creatures. Some wolves have been sighted, according to the villagers, but those never make the climb to begin with. No one can tell with this rain, though.”
They were reaching the outskirts of town by now, rain letting up slightly but not ending. If they followed the road out, they eventually run into the men clearing it. The first objective though was finding a small pathway, a semi-natural staircase, that they could take. “Somewhere to our left something should come up. Stairs or so. I am not entirely sure.”
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Upon hearing that her partner for this mission was not a local citizen Kasumi cannot help but furrowed her brow slightly though she only nodded in response. In her mind she wondered if the villagers really wanted the hunter to be found...a local guide would have helped them immensely even if they lack any other skills that would be helpful in rescuing this man. Still, what the girl provided was more than enough to go on.
"I see...then I believe our first course of action would be to check for any signs the hunter was actually in that area in first place. His belongings, traps, skinned animal carcass or the like..."
Not that she had a lot of experience in hunting herself. She usually get her food by doing whatever task that was assigned towards her by the guild. Perhaps it would be something they can talk together about once they find said hunter. Kasumi cast her gaze skyward when she felt the rain petering out but with dark clouds looming in the air, any hope that they would actually be dry any time soon all but vanished. Natalie's words beckon her attention and she would turn her focus left. There was indeed a natural pathway that leads them to the valley, but because of the rain it was also quite slippery. Barely wide enough to accommodate them both and without any sort of hand railing to hold onto it would prove treacherous to those who try and navigate it carelessly especially if they are not the athletic type.
"Found it. Though I'm not sure if it's safe to use..."Kasumi paused as she furrowed her eyebrow slightly.
"If you are confident you can use the stairs without slipping, go ahead. If not, climb onto my back. I'd rather not risk our healer get injured before things get started."
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Natalie had her own reservations with regard to the lack of a guard, but had decided not to dwell on them. The explanation given was a somewhat plausible one. With most of the able-bodied men gone, there were not many that could act as such guides to them who would not also slow them down. So far, that made good enough sense. If there was anything else to it, they would probably be able to uncover that regardless. For the moment, she could do little more than take this all on face value.
They had more immediate concerns, in the case of an actual slippery slope in front of them. Natalie was somewhat confident in her ability to get down there in one piece. She probably would not make it in a good amount of time, however. With an offer like that given, the healer saw no reason not to take the other up on it. Kasumi did seem confident that she could not only get down there, but help her with that endeavour as well. An easy choice indeed.
“You are right. It probably is safe, but your reasoning is sound. There is no reason to risk any of that, if you can simply carry me down there. I will be less of a burden once we are on ground level.” She added the last part simply because she wanted to save a bit of face. Natalie was pragmatic enough to consent to this, yes, but she was still representing her guild here. It would not do her much good to appear too pathetic.
Hence, she also reached for the umbrella. “In that case, I will make myself useful and carry this, while you carry me.”
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Kasumi would remain quiet so as to allow Natalie to consider her options. She had expected the girl to reject her offer fullheartedly so when Natalie accepted with little hesitation on her part, her eyes betrayed a flicker of surprise but they vanished as soon as they come. A slight nod follows before the mage offered her the umbrella for the other mage to take.
"Of course. Here."
Crouching before the mage, Kasumi would allow her to climb on her back as she directed her eyes on the slippery slope. Magical energy flows through her body as she prepare herself to lift Natalie so as to enhance both her strength and stability. Once she felt Natalie got onto her back, the purplette would rise from the ground and make her way downward the slippery slope. The traction of her boots allowed her to purchase whatever little grip they could afford as they headed down the stairs. Her coat may be a little soaked because of the raincoat pressed against her back but the umbrella should protect them both from being even more wet.
A passing thought occurred to Kassie that she could have just leap down straight the stair but considered against it. The fact that they decided to choose this manner was to take as litle risk as possible and even if she could save a few seconds doing so, the risk outweight the benefit she felt. Once they have arrived down the slope safely, she would take a knee so as to let Natalie down from her back. Her eyes now scanned the valley before them so as to check for anything that may threaten the duo. With the rain still pouring, she doubted there would be any but it would not do for her to lower her guard.
"There you go."
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Heh. She had caught this one unawares, hadn’t she? Briefly, Natalie would smirk about this, but swiftly return to the matter at hand. Kasumi got into place, so her partner would simply take this opportunity to climb on her back safe and sound, intent to hold onto as tightly as necessary, but as lightly as possible. Being too much of a bother would be bad, especially since she was spreading her wetness slightly as their bodies were pressed together a bit more tightly. It should be fine though. This had not been her idea to begin with, but Kas’.
Yet, she would still try to keep the umbrella in position as well as she could to keep them dry. Possibly a pointless effort. Judging by how the winds and rain were lightly picking up again already, the end of the mission would see them both soggy anyway. Fortunately, she did have some magic to help them not get a cold from it all.
Making good progress, the two of them would eventually reach the bottom for now, allowing her to get back off and hand over the umbrella again. “Thank you very much,” she noted and meant it, as her feet felt moderately solid ground again. The healer then glanced about at the woods that would now surround them on the sides. Due to the weather, much of the ground was muddy, but there was some heavy grass in parts that would probably give them a better path. “This will be the hard part. The mayor couldn’t give me much. I guess tracking won’t be an option either, given all that. But the man did say that there are two locations that we could check out. A few caves and a small lodge or tree house. He was not very clear on that. But they built that apparently for cases like this, a little safe haven. The caves are allegedly home to animals sometimes, so they might not be as safe. What do you think?”
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"No problem."
Kasumi would take the umbrella away from her hand as she listened to Natalie's explanation. Tracking the hunter would indeed prove difficult, the rain all but washed away any tracks within the area. Nor would she be able to track with scent even if she had something that belongs to the hunter thanks to said weather. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she consider her choices.
"If the hunter is curently inside a lodge or tree house then it's quite unlikely they are in danger. Should said residence be closer to us than the caves, I suppose we can check it first to save us the unnecessary time of exploring the cave."she began, her free hand would rub her chin as she contemplate. At this point, Kasumi began to consider the worst possible scenario. That the hunter was injured and in requirement of immediate medical aid. Directing her attention back towards Natalie she finally spoke.
"Otherwise I would suggest the caves first. Since the villagers said there aren't any dangerous creatures in this valley then it should be relatively safe for us to check them out."
There was of course the possibility that a dangerous creature had indeed migrated into the area recently but Kasumi didn't want to scare her partner. Only after she determined that such creature would exist that she would address the possibility and make plans to combat it. She would then wait to see if her partner have any such objection to her proposed course of action. If not, she would directly head towards the direction of the cave indicated with haste.
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Natalie would let the other think, both aloud and quiet, without disturbance. In many ways, she felt like this woman had more experience in matters such as this. Being a healer, she was often not really involved in the making of plans, but rather was told how they would proceed for one reason or another. It was just natural, really. Most of the time she did not have a lot of useful insight anyway.
This one was not much different. While her medical expertise would be useful eventually – maybe – she just did not know how to best track down the patient. Hence, she would leave that to the pros. Or, in absence of any of those, to enthusiastic amateurs.
What Kasumi said made sense. She was inclined to believe it. “Right. It is probably best to think of this as geographical triage. First look for him where he would end up in his worst state, then where he would go in case he is not injured.” Granted, that was not strictly speaking what triage was. But close enough, really. They did not have anything better to go on, so this was probably their best bet.
Natalie briefly looked up, towards the cliffs they had just come down on, then towards the woods. Recalling what scant knowledge she had of the area, the healer would point ahead and slightly to the right. “That should be the general direction. Fortunately, the cave should be in the basin’s opposite wall, so we cannot truly miss it.” They could only come short or end up too far towards the North. Either of those might cost them time, but they would not get lost
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