undergrounds | You warm by the firelight

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You warm by the firelight

Date: 23rd~28th of September
Plot: Missing Hunter
Areas: Westminster, Bromley, Various in between

A hunter has gone missing. They were last seen almost a month ago, travelling to the outskirts of London to hunt down a werewolf. With the Blood Moon approaching he hoped to track down his prey and take it out easily at the peak when it had no powers. However, things went a little awry. The werewolf he was tracking cut through Bromley, now Fae territory, and ended up in deeper water than anticipated. A Fae summoned during the ebbing rebalance of power has caused a little trouble, and it may take a while to untangle.

[ ooc; log for the missing hunter plot! You can give me a ping if you want to be involved and hadn't signed up already! It runs 23rd of September through the Blood Moon! Headers within for areas/dates. ]

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Going on a week that Alice had stopped abruptly taking her medication, she also had started to ignore her psychiatrist's calls, around the same time things in the coven started to heat up. Alice was a novice to the rest of the coven and she did everything she could to push herself in getting to know others. Robyn Barnes -- Alice didn't really know much of her, other than her husband was recently passed. Alice had offered her sympathies to her, having lost her family, too. She would have eventually liked to befriend the other witch, too. Friendship was a tricky thing for Alice, she couldn't really say she had any friends and was dead set on fixing this with other witches.

Alice was disappointed the sentiment couldn't be shared with others, sometimes. In the evening, Alice was prepared to head back to her housing, glancing down at her phone, looking at about the fifth call from her doctor. She admired his persistence, at least, scrolling through texts telling Alice how worried he was for her and how he promised he wasn't going to reach out the hospital. That was great, but it was at the bottom of her to-do list.

She was going to leave soon until word had gotten around someone from the Night Council was questioning the coven. Some didn't seem to take too kindly to it, as the tension lingered in the air over casualties and a blow in pride. Alice didn't question the resentment, she followed it. If they were irritated over being questioned, so would she. Around that time, Alice had turned off her phone from completely when the final text for the night came in from her doctor. Alice didn't really have to ask -- word caught around they were asking about Robyn Barnes an where she was going. All Alice could recall the last time she saw Robyn was she was inconsolable and angry. She had a hunch that she should have followed her earlier, from the time she stormed off in hysterics, finding herself in that situation so many times, herself.

The idea played in her head for a moment, until she decided to make an impulsive choice of trying to find Robyn, before anyone from the Night Council had the chance to bother her again.

Her defense was the vorpal blade -- which, according to her father, was a knife not made of human hands, but of faes. It was risky, but it was her best defense, something made from the fae that could be used to fight them off, crafted for only the Liddell family, and no one else. After that, the coven was left stewing and spitting over the investigation, Alice had slipped off before anyone noticed.

She ventured off into fae territory, ignoring the pounding headache from the withdrawals and her growing hallucinations along with it, desperate to catch Robyn before anyone else. Robyn, at least, didn't lash out at Alice, right? Because she was young, a child to her, and Alice wanted nothing but to console her.

Alice nearly plowed out, gathering up her skirt, shouting wildly, "Stop! Stop it! Leave her alone!"

Lancelot has yet to find Robyn. He's been asking around, and he has a few leads -- but the covens are all wary of him. Suspicious. He can't blame them, he supposes he would be too, but it's still frustrating when really all he wants to do is help.

Alice can be forgiven for not recognising him at first. Aside from her own mental state, her stress and anger and pounding headache along with the hallucinations, Lancelot dresses much more soberly when he's working. His coat is plain black, his curls are tamed to something neater and he hasn't his dog. He's standing trying to persuade a young witch to tell him where she last saw Robyn, the woman shrinking away from him a little.

"You know Robyn isn't in the best state," he's saying. "I only want to help her. Please. Whatever has happened -- Robyn needs help, and we believe --" Which is when Alice starts to shout.

He turns just in time to spot her -- and of all the people to see here he hadn't expected his. He makes a soft sound of alarm and dodges back, holding out his hands in supplication. All he has in them is a pen and a small notebook but he's still almost tempted to drop them, just in case.

The young witch he'd been interviewing looks surprised too. Her hair is wild and red, freckles all across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Emily, her name is, and she's a slight little thing -- small enough that Lancelot had the overpowering urge to try and feed her something the moment he saw her. The oversized coat she's wearing somehow underlines the effect.

"Alice!" she says in surprise, and for a second she looks like she's unsure if she should be taking this as a chance to run or not.

Just as slight and small, Alice bounds over very quickly. She barely remembers the other witch, on one hand, slowly coming to a stop, catching her breath. She stares at her in silence, trying to pin point her face and where she had seen her to no avail. Her attentions go back to Lancelot and ignoring how awkward it is for Alice, she decides to just push forward, ignoring her hesitations. Alice was starting become more reckless and impulsive.

"Lancelot," Curt and short, her usual politeness evaporated, as she exuded a harsher tone when she spoke to him, "I know what you're doing."

Her rational part chimes in the back of her mind desperately to just get a grip and stop before she does something she regrets. But she ignores it, she ignores the other witch, and ignores the swimming feeling of vertigo as she tries to physically center herself by standing firm. Circle Midnight had enough stress -- even a newcomer like Alice knew this, "Miss Robyn and this coven have been through enough misfortune. Why are you asking for her? You should leave her be."

He looks between the two of them a moment, trying to work out exactly what is going on. I now what you're doing, she says, and that wouldn't surprise him -- he supposes people must talk. Yet then she asks Why he's asking for her and that places uncertainty on it all again. Perhaps she only knows half the story. Perhaps he can rescue the situation. He holds out his hand in surrender, tries to work out the best way to approach this.

"I just want to talk to her," he begins, "she may be in some trouble and I'd like to help." Lancelot's eyes flick between the two of them again, and he hesitates before adding: "a member of Hillingdon is missing. He was seen talking to her, and I'd like to find out if she knows where he went."

"Not if I find her first."

As upset as Alice is, she is hesitant to raise her voice. With a quivering voice and clenched fists, she holds her ground firm. In retrospect, it was stupid for a new member of the Midnight Circle to challenge a member of the night circle, if Alice had to be realistic.

"Why? Our coven is hurting enough as it is," She couldn't bring herself to raise her voice, no matter how much she tried to muster it. She really hoped that his intentions were good and that he meant well. Boldly, she slides to the side, in an attempt to stop him from going anywhere. She not only forgets for a moment how small she is, she forges the equally small redhead beside her.

"Not every member of Circle Midnight is a bad person, so please, leave us be."

Ah, and now she's announcing loudly that she's Circle Midnight when Lancelot had been avoiding making anyone admit that. He winces, takes a breath and lets it out slowly.

"I'm not accusing her of anything," he begins carefully, "I only wish to ask her. Isn't it better to ask her and prove she isn't involved then wait, and risk this becoming a bigger problem? The Matt Lloyd has been missing for a month already, Alice. I want to make sure I find him before anything happens to him. If we wait too long and he's found dead it will be more trouble for everyone. I know you aren't bad people, so please..."

Lancelot seems to take the wind out of Alice's sails, calming her, if only temporarily. She looks at him, chewing the inside of her mouth in thought. As if Alice wasn't hesitant before to raise her voice and confront him, and nearly accuse him for pushing Circle Daybreaks agenda. Her anger polluted her thoughts and her inner struggle made it worse. She didn't know Robin that well, but her pain and grief resonated so deeply with Alice.

She found herself deeply sympathizing with her. In a split second, where Alice had her right foot pulled back, debating whether or not to just outright kick Lancelot hard in the shin and take off, she cups her hands together, with a pleading look, "Then let me come with you."

Had she really just said that? Was she really saying that? Would a night council member really hear her out? "Please. Let me talk to her. She isn't the only one who lost someone she loved horribly. Please let me find her. Please."

He blinks at the question, frowns at her.

"Of course, please do. She will more likely listen to you than she will me, Alice. I mean what I said. I only want to help, I have no intention of tormenting her. Do you... know where she might be?"

After all, it sounds as if they might be friends. If anyone would know her well enough to guess where she might be, surely it would be a friend?

By now, the anger in Alice has settled. She runs it through her mind again, hoping that her memory issues hadn't erased it completely. Robin was so shaken, so upset, that her behavior before she left was growing odder and odder, asking questions-

"One moment." Alice dissolves back into her skittish self he'd seen before, rubbing her face, trying to remember. Remember harder! She strains herself, realizing that she could barely remember the day before.

Tears beaming in the corner of her eye, she remembered Robin was asking about the forests and Alice remarked why would anyone want to poke around that particular forest, because of fae.

"I- I remember!" She actually remembered something, in the midst of her stress, possibly because it seemed so odd and she nearly didn't think much of it, "She was asking about the forests, where the fae are. Oh, how I wish I remembered sooner! But she asked about those forests and it was so strange, she was not herself when she asked. I was wondering why she was asking about fae territory. Oh, I'm so sorry, I couldn't remember, but I remember now. I can lead you!"

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You warm by the firelight

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