World Tree MUSH

    For many years, ghost hunters have been fascinated by tales of the lost village of Dudleytown, a vanished Connecticut village that was apparently plagued by ghosts, demons and residents who vanished without a trace. These grave events were said to be caused by a curse, brought by the Dudley family to the New World...
    As of late, some of those ghost hunters have gone missing. It's been a mildly vexing time for the authorities, and while the village sits in private property, that doesn't seem to do much to stop or deter people from trying to find and figure out the secrets of Dudleytown. Which just makes even more people disappear.
    Though Dudleytown is technically too small to be called a town, it's actually an isolated part of the nearby town of Cornwall, and the only way to reach what remains of Dudleytown, now, is to take the Dark Entry Road through the Dark Entry Forest... Ominous sounding, no? Well with how many people have gone missing lately, the private owners of the land have been very open with their stance: The land is OFF LIMITS. As a result the local police and sherriffs have been doubling down on their patrols and making it harder for people to get in.
    But that's not going to stop our intrepid adventurers today is it?
    Specifically, a one CASSANDRA NETHERLAND has made a bit of a desperate plea to look into the disappearances. And she's waiting at the entrance to the Dark Entry Road-- which is more of a barely visible dirt path into the overgrown forest- for anyone that will come to answer her call.

The hunt for Golbez hasn't been going well. As much as Itana el-Zayl wants to keep at it, there is only so much time in her day she can devote to vengeance-seeking when there are no obvious avenues to follow and no allies close at hand offering up tips, and she certainly isn't going to ask for help. Until then, left with no home to return to, she's tried the next best thing: Making money by picking up contracts wherever adventurous sorts are needed.

When she emerges from the treeline it's without a sound, only a flicker of light-coloured cloth against the woodland backdrop marking her arrival before she pushes her hood back just enough that the shadow on her face recedes some. She didn't bother with period dress. Her normal attire will have to do.

"There are sheriffs about," she says with a glance over one shoulder as she moves close to the small girl at the head of the road. "Word has no doubt been circulating."

A modern world isn't Itana's normal cup of tea. A forest, however, is quite different. Nature is a timeless thing. She's been through more than enough woodlands to know what to do here.

    For once, Hyouka's finances are in a decent place! Sure, she doesn't have to pay rent, and technically she needs no food to survive, but goshdarn it, she has subscriptions to pay and pastimes to fund. But right now? She's doing pretty well! So she's taking some time to go out on a more personal jaunt. It's not likely there'll be a big payday in this, but it looks interesting enough to be worth the trip in and of itself.

    So, the magic elf cyborg has found her way here, sauntering up to the meeting point with a steady, alert sort of gait. "Yo~. Would you be Cassandra Netherland?" A pause, and then a glance at Itana. "...Wait, are you? Now I'm not sure..."

    Dante's finances meanwhile are pretty much miserable. Barely enough to get groceries. Or pizza for that matter, after narrowly paying rent. So he was quick to accept this job! Plus, he wanted to get outta the shop for a bit and not have to listen to Enzo for a few hours. When Morrison presented the gig, Dante practically jumped outta his seat.

    "HYOUKA!" He calls out as he approaches the elfin cyborg, "You -bitch-!" And then he tries to give Hyouka a hi-five, or maybe armwrestle? It looks like he's about to go for a punch, honestly.

    Itana also gets a wave, recognizing her. The other girl seems to be the client, too.

    A flare of light, a rotating sigil drawn in pale blue-white, and suddenly a fair-sized robotic construct appears nearby. Its singular optic flickers to life, and a deep, synthetic voice intones in an emotionless flat, "Primus Core, Online. Sensory System, Online. Flash Fabrication, Online. All systems nominal."

    A moment or two later, the optic changes from yellow to pale blue. "Minerva, take a note. Fix Julian's auto-response feature. Again." the more natural sounding feminine voice says exasperatedly.

    The robot turns, and looks around the group. Dante she recognizes, the others just vaguely so. "Captain Justina Thyme. Centrian Expeditionary Force. Research division of LineFleet." she offers by way of introduction.

    "Well it's not me," comes a youthful voice. As usual Raylene is overdressed for the occasion, walking forward with a glance around and a sigh. "A lot more people here than I'm used to, but I suppose in a place that's obviously gotten some kind of curse on it, this is to be expected." She peers at 'Cassandra' and tilts her head. "Hmm."

    "Did you expect anything else, Raylene?" comes a joking voice. Belle arrives last, adjusting her glasses. Crazy space adventures have been... interesting but something close to home is good to get herself more grounded. She glances at Cassandra and then shrugs, looking at the others now.

    "Could be something immaterial, but hopefully it's something we can punch. Or shoot," she muses. "Well I'm sure someone here will figure it out."

    Not it.

    For the record, Cassandra is a young girl, maybe twelve or thirteen about, with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and favors the color white- which means the white dress she has on at the moment probably isn't the BEST for a forest excursion but... Just what connection she could have to this place is a mystery, but when people start to arrive she's looking a little skittish; probably because of the increased police presence and the fact that she's about to lead multiple people into an expedition in trespassing.
    "Ah... Yes, they really don't want anyone going in." She says at first in reply to Itana noting the heightened law enforcement presence. But then she lifts a hand somewhat sheepishly. "I am Cassandra." She answers Hyouka, before flinching from Dante's loud arrival and the fact that he looks like he's about to haul off on the cybernetic elf.
    "Hello, Justina." No, she doesn't seem phased in the least by the ROBOT that appears via magic sigil, or the fact that it's being piloted by an astral projected half-elf. What fazes her MORE is Raylene peering at her. It makes her sweat slightly as she puts on something of a forced smile; probably because Raylene MIGHT be able to sense something off about her with that Sight of hers. So by the time Belle shows up, Cassandra is looking more than a little nervous.
    "Aheh... Heh... Hopefully it will not be so violent... But I do want this looked into." She huffs before turning to peek down the overgrown path.
    She takes a slow, steeling, breath and...
    Well it's a bit of a hike into the woods, but thankfully at this time of day there's no losing track of the path even though it's severely overgrown. So it's not too long a hike into too lost territory as the party leaves the edge of Cornwall and slips into the Dark Entry Forest.
    Seriously who named it that?
    "We're here." Cassandra murmurs as the path finally vanishes. Trees have re-grown and taken over a lot of the area- it's not choked- but there's no more 'clearing' for where houses could have been. There are no houses either.
    All that remains of Dudleytown are cellar holes and a few stone foundations.
    But it's quiet.
    Eerily quiet. Not so much as a bird call or even a squirrel sighting...

"I am not Cassandra Netherland," Itana answers with a slight dip of her lashes. Her eyes dart over Hyouka momentarily. "My name is Itana." Dante, at least, gets a quick nod. Him she recognizes, enough to take his antics as not atypical of him.

The robot is less familiar. Itana stares at the Justina-tron for a few seconds before exhaling through her nose and looking towards the depths of the forest, shoulders tensing subtly and then relaxing.

The hike hardly phases her. Pulling her hood up, Itana slinks through the woods, maneuvering herself somewhere off to Cassandra's right and shadowing her course. For a moment, she remains crouched behind a stand of bushes, her bow in her hand. She's quiet, ignoring even the chatter of the nearby group.

She's not the only one quiet. With a frown, she looks into the trees, then towards the nearest cellar hole. Still unspeaking, the nomadic archer slides out of her hiding place and begins to prowl forward towards that hole, intent on taking a look down into it.

Forests should not be this quiet. Eventually, the birds take over abandoned places. Why have they not here?

    There are very few people who are strong enough to pull Hyouka off her balance.

    The Son of Sparda is one of those people.

    There is a very confused, borderline-shocked look on her face at Dante's greeting. "What-?!" Before she can get two words into any question she might be asking, she's pulled into a very aggressively friendly armlock, enough so to tug her forward and make her stumble just a little. "W-what's- Dante, what are you-" Suddenly, DARGN begins laughing, the AI's voice unusually mirthful. "Dante, I'm afraid your chosen audience is a good twenty years too young to get that one." Hyouka manages to disentangle herself with a rather embarrassed look. "O-oh, it was... I see." Ahem.

    Justina and Raylene she recognizes - though it's been a good long while since she's seen either, and in Justina's case it's more like recognizing a voice. But Belle draws a curious glance. "Oh, an acquaintance of Raylene's? Hyouka Kiyama, good to meet you."

    Cassandra clears up the misunderstanding, though, and Itana provides her name. The elven-looking woman nods her head a little to both. "I certainly hope it doesn't get violent, but places like this... it's about 50/50 whether something attacks us." She follows along without complaint; it's not like she gets tired! Physically, at least. When they arrive at the location at last, Hyouka takes a step or two forward, immediately moving towards one of the remaining foundations.

    It's DARGN who points out, "Hyouka. The sound levels here are abnormally low. Very much so. Be on your guard." "Huh? ...oh, you're right." She's still going to examine the foundation, though.

    VWEEE CACHUNK. VWEEE CACHUNK. The sound of the Doll's servos is probably cacophanously loud in the deep silence. The head unit swivels back and forth, scanning with those optic sensors, and whatever else is packed into the frame. "Initiating wide area sweep. All aspect." says the half-elf. She's not using the full suite at max power, but she's got Magic, Life Form and more mundane Infrared and Thermal, Ultrarviolet.

    Did the AI just -laugh-? That's a first. Dante lets out a laugh, "You never saw that movie? Man, I gotta sit you down sometime and we'll binge all the classics!" He says with a huge grin before giving Itana, Justina, Raylene, Belle, and the new girl a wave. "Sup ladies. Name's Dante, Son of Sparda. Some of you guys I know, others not so much."

    He cuts a striking figure in a red trenchcoat and a classy set of slacks, a white dress shirt, red waistcoat underneath, and boots, while sporting a massive greatsword with a skull on the crossguard and two custom .45s at the small of his back. "Long story short, I kill shit good, usually demons."

    Once he's done introducing himself, Dante glances around at the village as they hike along. Despite being every inch the 'animu action hero' type, Dante takes this seriously enough, keeping a hand on Rebellion's hilt as he carries onward into Dudleytown. His cool blue eyes scan the area, taking in the silence. It's too damn quiet for any kind of sleepy village around here.

    "DARGN's right. I ain't seen a single bird, squirrel, or anything else this whole time. Spookier than any nasty lurkin' in the dark, that's for sure."

    He keeps a good eye on Justina's drone, letting it scan the immediate area for hostiles, or any kind of life around.

    Raylene gives a curtsy to those she knows, and then begins walking, with a narrow-eyed stare at Castiel. "Hm. Well, as most of you know it's my guardian to watch out for, but I'll do what I can to investigate." Which is... right now, just looking around.

    She also mentions Belle, "Miss Gagnon here has a peculiar family bloodline. Think of her as... hmmm... perhaps like a werewolf but without the curse part. That's wildly inaccurate and a vast oversimplification, but she's used to investigating these sorts of things."

    Raylene is just strolling about looking for signs of the supernatural, herself. Naturally her invisible friend is following behind her, which is why she SEEMS so carefree.

    "Just calle me Belle," says the young girl. Not as young as Raylene, almost an adult, and muttering as she adjusts glasses while staring at Cassandra. Her Sight isn't as powerful as Raylene's though, so all she picks up is that there's something weird about the young girl.

    "Getting an early start on Chasing, huh?" She remarks to Cassandra, but then just waves to the others. "I've spent the last few months wandering around a giant marooned starship, but this here is my native world. I'm really not much of an investigator... kind of the muscle of the group. But I am used to cryptids."

    Oh man, Cassandra is practically wilting the longer Raylene looks at her. Then there's the girl's invisible Horror- which Cassandra can FEEL nearby, that's not helping!
    But as the group starts to explore and search for clues, Cassandra rubs the back of her neck. "S-something like that." She replies to Belle.
    "I suppose I should give some background... The Dudley family came to Connecticut shortly around the year 1740, when Gideon Dudley bought this land from Thoma Griffis. The town thrived- though not for the farming but because the region was rich in iron. But... There were many strange deaths and bizarre occurrences since the town's inception." She explains. "Like Gershon Hollister who was killed when buildin a barn for William Tanner- who later went insane and told other villagers of 'strange creatures' that would come out of the woods at night."
    With lore sufficiently dumped, Cassandra fidgets, keeping an eye out for police while people start to investigate.
    There's magic at play here, Justina and Raylene will easily be able to tell that- hell there's something here that makes the hairs stand on end of even the most mundane magic-sensory-inept folks too.
    Nothing hostil though. Yet.
    Itana and Hyouka inspect the remains of what used to be a homestead, all that's left is the cellar hole and foundation, but there's something off about the way the stones are set. There's nothing stopping them from going into the foundation though, and as soon as they do there's... There's a chill. It wasn't there before but as soon as they cross the threshold into the foundation, it's the kind of chill that cuts through to the bone like a knife. There are plenty of other foundation holes like this one to explore too.
    "Hopfully we won't need muscle, but I suppose if it comes to it, it is good to have you here." Cassandra muses to Belle. Before she pauses. "What were you doing on a starship?"
    

VWEEE CACHUNK.

Itana's skin crawls. She gives the Justina-drone a sidelong glance, pressing her lips together and forcing a slow breath out through her nose. Technology makes her nervous, and /that/ thing barely seems like it has a person in it.

She can hear Raylene explaining things, at least. Itana looks back with a slow nod, eyes drifting momentarily to Belle to assess the seemingly innocuous figure. From there her attention returns to the foundation holes. For lack of supernatural sight, she goes on instinct and awareness of how forests tend to 'behave.' After a moment's investigation, she crosses the threshold into the foundation hole.

Immediately she shivers and pulls her cloak around herself, pressing her lips together intently. Itana does not like to feel cold. A bit of the colour drains from her face as she forces herself to bear it for a moment - enough that she can get close to the stones and try to assess how they're set. Something seems off about them.

If she didn't have to be cold, this'd be A LOT easier.

"I do not know if this is a presence," she murmurs. "It is something."

    Justina muses idly. "There is magic at work here, I can't tell exactly what without pushing my Primus supplies to the redlines. I am unwilling to do so unless it becomes a matter of life and death." She turns to look back at Itana, noting the discomfit of her ally. "I am remotely operating this Doll frame from my ship in orbit. My 'soul' is here, inhabiting this artificial body." she explains, for more than Itana's benefit, since most of the others haven't really met her, or seen her for a while.

    Hyouka's feet cross the foundation, and she immediately comes to a full, complete stop. "...DARGN, did the ambient temperature just drop any?" she asks, a soft frown on her face. DARGN replies with an entirely businesslike, "Not in the least, no." The faux-elven woman nods her head faintly at that, and begins investigating a little more slowly. There is, however, a glance up at Itana. "It's definitely something," she agrees. "Maybe a curse or enchantment?" To this day, she wishes she'd ask for some kind of magical sensor; however, it's far too late for that, and upgrading her body would be far too expensive.

    Her current investigative plan seems to be moving in towards the centermost part of the foundation, seeing if there's anything more intense there, or any kind of hidden magical circle, or... something, amidst the stones and grass.

    Dante listens as he fidgets with the hilt of his sword a bit, making a sniff as he looks around warily. The machine's noises don't exactly make him feel at ease either. "I think Justina's got some kinda condition that keeps her up in space." He chimes in when Justina explains to Itana.

    Belle might get a funny look from Dante. A werebeast minus the curse...that's a new one. He's never heard of naturally born werewolves.

    Occassionally he takes note of the stones, trying to trace out a pattern. "Wonder if this has to do with leylines or something."

    Belle shrugs, staring a slow circuit around the place. She's actually more looking out for police with her enhanced senses. She does have her glasses on, so can see ghosts if they pop out, but is relying more on Raylene to handle that sort of thing.

    Castiel's question gets a shrug, and she looks around at the others. Justina LIVES on a starship so it's probably old news to her, but she explains, "It's a big colony ship stuck on a rock. Asteroid I guess. With lots of androids and malfunctioning AI trying to fix the problem. It's turned out to be a pretty complicated problem, too, but I think we've almost solved it."

    But as for right here she stops and nudges a stone. "See anything?"

    Raylene, being the resident expert in witchcraft on account of... being a witch, is poking around too. Hearing the others complain, she meanders over there, squinting to take a look and try to analyze if there's any lingering magic. Or worse, something intentional about this area's stones. "Probably some ancient buried evil or something, but it could be your typical 'town mayor using the citizens as a sacrifice to ascend into a demonic being' or something..."

    Moving into the open cellar, well... There's a definite chill there. Whether it's a something spooky or not though is... Actually discernible. There's no hidden magic circle but it's definitely palpable as Hyouka steps towards the center of the ruin. It's not a ghost, Belle and Raylene can tell that much- not full on, but a definite lingering *presence*.
    Belle, Dante, and Itana investigate the foundation stones and...
    They've RECENTLY been dug up.
    And on digging them up again... It's not a pleasant sight.
    There's a corpse.
    A recent one. Dressed in hiking gear and looking-- and smelling- a bit on the ripe side. Just casually interred in the foundation, with countless other sets of bones from ages past.
    Cassandra looks horrified by the discovery, turning a few shades of green from the sight.
    "... I hope it is neither of those possibilities." She mutters to Raylene while struggling to keep her lunch down.
    But Raylene can tell. There's something definitely intentional with the stones- before and after they're disturbed. There's some kind of writing on them, a different letter on each foundation stone, each forming some kind of ward? Like it was... To keep something IN.
    That's when something snaps a twig in the forest. The first sound anyone in the group has heard other than themselves. And whatever it is comes running out of the brush with a growl. It's not large, maybe the size of a dog, but it takes a leap into the foundation pit and lunges-- for Itana, jaws flashing as it lunges to tear her throat out.
    "Ah--!" Cassandra watches, eyes wide before she reacts faster than anyone-
    "--You are a hiding place for me; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah!" She declares just as the thing clamps its jaws down-- and snaps several teeth off on Itana's shoulder as though she were made of stone as the starving, mangy, coyote disrupts the investigation.
    But coyotes don't attack like that unless something has them spooked.
    And this place is pretty spooky.

    Dante shrugs at Raylene, "Could be. I've seen a few villages up and disappear from that shit. Didn't end so well for the guys doing the rituals." He says with a crooked smirk. If nothing else, putting down narcissistic pricks who'd do anything for power is satisfying as hell.

    As he discovers the corpse, Dante frowns. "Oof. Smells...very ripe." He says, trying to protect his nostrils from the disgusting stench.

    As something leaps out at them, Dante is quick to react. But not nearly quick enough, as Cassandra jumps in to protect Itana.

    "Woah, did you just 'pray' that coyote away?"

Itana is about as magical as a stump. Even she can feel this. She's somehow not sure which is worse - the haunting cold, or the fact that Justina stuffed her soul in a metal abomination. "I see," she murmurs, looking down at the foundation stones and not making clear who she's actually responding to. The combination of info-gathering, techbane unease and phantom cold leave her unfocused on the rest of the forest in a way she otherwise wouldn't be.

Something comes hurtling out of the forest. Itana snaps her head up with a sudden sharp breath and moves her arm out of her cloak, but gets tangled up in it for a crucial half-second. Her eyes widen as time seems to slow down for her. It gives her just enough time to realize she's completely screwed.

The coyote bites down - and hits her unexpectedly rock-like shoulder. Itana recoils instinctively with the momentum, only to blink with a pang of outright shock as she realizes she's not only not dying, but not even *hurt.* The surprise cracks even her normally taciturn expression and leaves her mouth open a couple of millimetres.

A couple of dumbstruck seconds tick by like minutes. The coyote rebounds from her. Her momentum abates slightly.

Then she recovers instinctively, drives a heel into the turf, reaches into her waist and comes up with a wide-bladed hunting knife, before promptly attempting to kick the coyote in the snout and then stab it between the eyes.

    Hyouka doesn't turn anything up; but the sensation of something wrong is unmistakable. Deciding it's probably better if she joins one of the others, Hyouka rises - and that's when the coyote erupts from the forest to desperately prey on the nearest source of food it can find. She breaks into a run with inhuman reaction times, but even with her artificial body, she's not going to be fast enough to- ...oh. What? Itana is superhumanly tough? She certainly didn't seem it, but-

    'Hyouka. Cassandra is more than she appears.' 'O-oh. That was some kind of spell?' 'That was some kind of spell.'

    It doesn't slow Hyouka's charge, though. She's closing in, just in case Itana's counterattack isn't enough. There's a concrete-shattering field goal kick waiting for the coyote if it's still alive by the time she gets there.

    Justina's head snaps toward the snapping twig, an instant later a box on her right shoulder unfolds into a mounted automatic crossbow.

    The sight of Itana literally tanking the attack, and Cassandra's intervention causing it has the Space Elf metaphorically quirking an eyebrow.

    The robotic Doll's attention lands squarely on Cassandra. "Explain. Now."

    As she's peering over everything, a coyote dashes out, and Castiel takes care of the danger. Which is good, because having the Horror handle that would have been messy. "Hm. Well, those of you who handle violence, please do the violencing," she suggests, while slowly walking around the perimeter. Strangely, the corpse doesn't seem to have much of an effect on the middle-school girl, despite the gruesome setting, but people who know Raylene may have guessed she's a little macabre.

    Which is why while the coyote is attacking and others are handling it, she launches right into a bit of an explanation. "Don't get worked up, this appears to have been meant to seal something in. Obviously whatever it is got out, but that just means we know it can be contained. Looks like we simply need to find and reseal it, or perhaps banish it if we find we have considerably more firepower than the original handlers. It doesn't look like an INTENTIONAL issue, so we're looking at something unguided."

    Coyotes? "Well, something's working up the wildlife," Belle notices. That mangy cur is probably handled by Itona, but it's just a blink before Belle is holding an elaborately-fashioned bow of some kind, drawing an arrow from the pack at her back that apparently holds a small quiver. A second attack won't catch her by surprise, now that she knows what to look for. "Hopefully just a starving lone one, but uh... we should probably find a way to report that body to the police." She's definitely seen a decaying body before, as aside from looking a little green, doesn't look to be too bothered.

    For a moment- just a beat and a breath- there's a shimmer of golden light around Itana that winks out after the Coyote is handled. Though Itana driving her blade into the beast's skull does also seem to make Cassandra flinch, there's no helping it. It was a quick and efficient kill that caused the beast no pain. No complaints from the pacifist, here.
    Ahem.
    Right so there's now a dead coyote on top of multiple dead bodies under the foundation, though its punted very far away now by Hyouka to make sure it won't be any more of a threat.
    Then there's fact that Dante, DARGN, and Justina are instantly onto Cassandra.
    "Uh."
    Wow that is a large bead of sweat that forms on the girl's brow as she clears her throat into her balled up fist softly. Ahem-hem... Slowwwwwwwly the blonde forces a bright smile. "Um. It is complex?" She ventures before trying to move on.
    "So the seal has been broken..." She muses as Raylene points it out. "We will have to come back and handle the problem directly then... Unfortunate. O-oh and report the body, yes. That is important." It is important.
    There was no sound before. But now there's a rustling in the trees as a chill wind passes through the ruins of the village.
    "We... Should go now." Cassandra says, looking quite uncomfortable as she glances back down the path back to Cornwall.

    If the Doll could narrow its eyes suspiciously at Cassandra, it would be doing so right now. As it stands, she wordlessly straightens up, going rigid before the Doll just... winks out. That sigil appears, a flare of light happens and the Doll is gone. The sigil fading a moment or two later.

    It's weird, Dante's Weird BS detector is definitely picking up something about Cassandra, but he seems to ignore it for now. "Whatever, magic and...other magic, whatever." They have more pressing concerns right now, and Dante hears the rustling in the trees.

    "Call me crazy but it doesn't sound like the coyote was alone." He notes, before giving Itana a (flirty?) wink. "Nice moves Itana, by the by." He has to admit, he likes Itana's style.

    God, he really misses Lady.

Itana is operating on instinct right now. Even as she thrusts the knife out, her mind is putting elements together: She heard Cassandra say something. She got bit and nothing happened to her. Cassandra must have done something. And there are dead bodies under the foundation stones. They're in the middle of a mass murder scene.

The coyote is dispatched. Itana yanks her knife out of the creature with a huff. The first place she looks is towards Cassandra. "You did something, didn't you?" she says tensely.

She doesn't really wait for an answer before looking down to the ripe body under the stone. Blood drips from her knife. "Seal?" she echoes. "What kind of seal?" She narrows her eyes before looking up once again to Cassandra.

"We should talk." Itana is back to her usual clipped reserve, but there's an intentionality behind her eyes.

Dante's flirt gets a glance. Her eyelids droop ever so slightly. "Brave man, flirting with someone standing over a body with a knife in hand."

    Raylene looks around and blinks. "Oh come now. A child in a white dress gathering a bunch of experienced fighters to investigate a dangerous supernatural area, and able to rattle off the entire history of it? Don't tell me you all thought she was HUMAN?" She pauses. "Then again I'm not much older and I am human, but I'm still a far cry from normal."

    She takes out a notepad and scribbles down some thoughts. "We'd best find out what we're dealing with here, first."

    Is she talking about Cassandra, or the escaped danger?

    There isn't anything accusatory or wary in Hyouka's eyes when she looks at Cassandra. If anything? She seems curious. She turns and makes a casual pace over towards the angel; but the breeze picks up just a little, and for a second or two she stops. It's hard to say what passes through her mind, and it's equally hard to say whether she realizes her right hand is curling into a fist, just a little. But then she turns, and- ...and Dante's being Dante. "He's like that," she calls out. "You get used to it."

    But she does find her way over to Cassandra, falling into step with the girl. "Do not worry," DARGN says. "Whatever haunts this place, it's in for a nasty surprise if it attacks us. Though she may not look it, Hyouka has the heart of a dragon."

    Hyouka pauses in her tracks. "...ha, ha, ha."

    Ah man, Cassandra wilts again under Justina's scrutiny. But when the doll ports out the girl lets out a breath she had been holding for a good moment.
    "Yes." She admits to Itana, no lies, no deceit. She did *something*, she just seems a little shy and short of actually admitting just WHAT She did.
    Only to choke thanks to Raylene there.
    She's sweating again, and hoping that Raylene is talking about the escaped threat over her, in the end.
    "Aheh... heh... heh..." She's chuckling just as awkwardly as Hyouka all the way out of the woods.