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Colin cocked her head to one side and listened to the man intently. (She also fought the urge to sit down and attempt to scratch behind her ear with her foot.) She smiled at him when he'd finished and allowed him past her. "Well I'm glad to see that chivalry survived in some situations." she remarked as he passed.

She was feeling much better now, able to breathe normally for the first time in a few minutes, and despite the occasional strong scent that the wind bore, was feeling entirely human. But there it was again. That silvery, slippery, metallic, yet organic scent of magic. It was so powerful that even her human nose could catch it and it certainly wasn't coming from the fat man's binding spell.

Glancing over her shoulder at the man who was now stepping out of the alley, Colin figured that he was in control of the situation, which really had nothing to do with her anyway. Besides, curiosity was getting the better of her, and while rather fatal to those of the feline nature, no one ever said, "Curiosity killed (or even seriously maimed) the werewolf."

She inhaled deeply, and could almost see the stream of scent wafting in the breeze. It was interesting how her nose did the thinking for her, and even took over some of her other senses, like sight. The thin blue line hovered in the air, making a clear path. Colin smiled despite herself and stepped from the alley into the chaos that had become the street. The line dipped and dodged around people, as she followed it away from the paralyzed girl, the fat man, and the man from the alley.

He did collect quite the treasure hoard--that part is true. I was never quite sure where he got it from, though, and in my blackest heart of hearts I deeply suspect business. Vivian shuddered. And there was a maiden fair. Many of them, in fact, and nearly every moderately shady inn we passed. I think he ended up settling down with a rather plain-looking girl in the end, but of course by all the official accounts she was the most lovely lady of all. Vivian mentally shrugged. One case of many, perhaps, in which the story's far more entertaining than the truth...

The sword recollected herself. In any case. I daresay it's time to check on our companions. She quivered briefly, and when she next spoke it was to all the young people she had bound to her. So where have you all got off to?

Carilee, hearing that unbidden voice in her head once more, was so startled she nearly tripped on the stairs she had been busy climbing. A few of the passerby gave her odd looks as she straightened her robes and readjusted her glasses--but, not even sure exactly how she was supposed to going about doing it, Carilee refrained from answering quite yet. That particular action was just a notch beyond her capabilities right now...

((note: thinking loudly/projecting one's thoughts will allow Vivian, and everyone else bonded, to hear the person thinking--though the latter only applies while she's got the communication level set at this 'frequency'.))

Just within his range of vision, the strange girl from the alley headed off, apparently pursuing something. Admittedly, her comment about chivalry had helped to convince him that he was in the right. In a way, he felt obligated to want her to reach what she was following.

Before he got completely past the excited throng of townspeople, Jarrick again heard the voice of the sword, Vivian, come through. Not expecting that, Jarrick stopped suddenly; earning him pushes and shoves from a number of the more agitated people around him. Ignoring that, he found himself thinking of the street that he was on and how far he had travelled since they split up. He wasn’t exactly trying to transmit any message, but hoped that it got through nonetheless.

Now that he was thinking about Vivian again, Jarrick remembered that the gaudily dressed lady had opened the door with the sword before, meaning that if he found them, he could probably get help for the girl with the sword. Then again, this message was likely reaching her anyway, so she’d probably be able to let Vivian know what was happening herself.

Awaiting a response, Jarrick kept moving through the crowd, uncomfortable with the idea of just standing around until he started hearing voices in his head again.

Li jumped in the alley, more than a few people noticed and were giving him strange looks. "R-Really? Umm... I'm in an alley close to the shoppe. Give me a moment and I'll be out in the open..." And Li did just that. He reattached his sword belt and stepped out. The rather large holes in clothes making him look even stranger. How often did beggars have swords?

With a rather unladylike sigh, Noru shook off the remaining effects of the spell and stood up straightly, cracking a number of joints and stretching quite a few muscles. This was going to waste quite a bit of time, but as long as she kept Hock from tracing back to the other individuals who had been in the store, she didn't mind. After all, tracking people did tend to come easier to her than some.

Placing her hands on her hips she waved an arm. "You must use some of that common sense of yours. Companions? I'm a wanderer, sir. I would rather avoid dragging along such a large group of companions with me. It's much too much trouble, I daresay. Not to mention, we all came into your shop at different times with different purchases in mind." She grumbled at the time she was wasting and silently followed Hock back to his shop.

The marketplace had by then quieted down back to it's normal commotion as people shouted for bargains and struggled through the crowd for purchases. As they reached the store, Noru stepped inside and waited for Hock to notice the rather large bag of money on his counter. Hopefully the other's hadn't gone too far. And as for the boy . . . well, hopefully he was smart and had avoided the thing in it's entirety.

((For the explanation of my lack of postage--which I do apologize for--see page 1759 in the OOC thread.))

"Only stupid thieves don't split up," Hock countered gruffly, sweeping his gaze over the store. A bag of something like money was indeed lying on the counter, though at the moment Hock was more concerned over the state of the rest of his wares. He bent to pick up a figurine that had toppled over in the earlier rush to escape. "If you would be so kind," he began shortly, "to wait a few moments, I will verify whether this tale of yours is true." Along with calculating just how much gold you're going to owe me for this little escapade, I imagine.

Meanwhile, though some minutes of walking away, Vivian had taken note of the last woman's absence. Dear swordwoman, she called privately, attempting to be polite, might you be in need of assistance? Or are you merely the taciturn type?

She answered Keldan next. I was having a little too much fun watching the passerby glance around all furtively at you. Sorry about that. But yes, at the least we should move on a little further... As for the rest of you, the sword added, returning to her manner of speaking to all of them at once, grab your things if you really must, but I want you all to meet Keldan--she's the bard one--and I in half an hour, just outside the western edge of this little--village. I'll direct you if needed. Clear? 'Cause we need to be in the next hamlet by tonight.

Yes, Carilee answered quietly. She pushed herself off the wall and set off, once again, towards home. Half and hour. Well, this was going to be interesting...

Jarrick barely broke stride as Vivian’s voice broke into his thoughts, having gotten somewhat used to her intrusions. He did stop though when her instructions regarding a meeting came through. For him, this meant turning around and heading back in the opposite direction. Were it any other part of town, he’d just take the back streets, but he was in the older, less organized section; this almost guaranteed that he wouldn’t make it in a half hour. Much to his dismay, this meant he’d be forced to once again negotiate the crowded area surrounding the shop he’d left.

Remembering the impatient blade, he thought about his location and intent to cross the square again, trying to keep as much irritation out of his thoughts as he could when he did so. Even if they’d been lucky enough to evade capture up to that point, it was inevitable that Vivian’s haphazard commands were going to lead to someone getting caught, especially since Hock was already looking for them.

Sprinting until he reached the crowd, and then weaving between townspeople at a walk, Jarrick kept watch not for the sword, but for the woman in the outlandish clothes; apparently her name was Keldan. However, before he found her, he caught sight of the girl from the alley, looking a lot better, but standing out all the same. Standing casually in the middle of the rush of people, she kept her eyes focused in one direction, which, surprisingly, turned out to be the one in which the bard was headed. Deciding to mention her monitoring to Vivian in person rather than try to mentally, Jarrick moved past the girl, making sure not to take too much notice.