World Tree MUSH

    Some things never change. Even in a world where the greatest source of evil has been put to rest, sometimes some things never change.
    Grass grows.
    Rivers flow.
    Seasons change.
    And adventurers are going to want to adventure.
    The town of Hearth's Haven isn't too large, but it's big enough that it does have its own branch of the Adventurer's Guild. And it's small enough that secrets just don't stay secret.
    Like how a super famous adventurer was in town right now.
    And that adventurer is at the guild at this very moment.
    "Hey aren't you--"
    "Yes."
    "You mean you're the catgirl that--"
    "Yep."
    "SO YOU--" 
    "Yes. Sheesh not so loud, I'm looking for work, too you know."
    Mau is here, and the guild receptionist is losing their shit at meeting a world renowned hero.

    Ghost isn't really here for work, he's here to recruit. But it seems like Mau's been busy with her own stuff. The SAS operative makes his way through the crowd at the guild hall. Jeans, hoodie, convenient shadow over the top of his face with the hood, check check check. Ghost is in full on Gray Man mode it looks like.

    And here is a sterling example of why Ghost keeps his face hidden if possible. Being recognized tends to be a headache for him.

    "Perchance we could expedite this process? Our time is a precious commodity that is in dwindling supply, as is my patience." states a young blonde girl next to the demi-human. She can barely see over the counter, but her blazing blue eyes bore a hole through the receptionist.

>> SUMMARY[Illumiel] >> Gooz go hjonk/

    Time is precious and the receptionist near jolts out of fangirl mode when Illumiel speaks up.
    "W-well... Our little town doesn't have much worthy of the heroes that saved the world but-"
    "But?" Mau prompts.
    "Well some bandits kidnapped a local girl not too long ago, they usually stay in the pass outside of town and-"
    "Neat. We're on the job." Mau decides pretty simply, taking the scrip of paper from the fumbling guild girl and turning to-- oh there's a familiar hoodie.
    "Yo, spook-mans, we just picked a job. Wanna come with?" She calls to Ghost on sight. "I got something for you, anyway." She says.

    If Angels made animal noises, Illumiel would be a cachophony of angry honking. As it is, she turns to fall in beside Mau and smooths down her dress. "Sir Ghost, an unexpected encounter." she remarks, checking on the brace of mundane items hanging from her belt in place of actual weapons. "Shall we speak and walk , the girl shall not rescue herself. There would be no cause for a guild sponsored job posting if she could."

    "Why not?" Ghost answers. "Got me kit and everything." He'll save the sales pitch for later. "Should be quick." he follows Mau and gets a chest rig and an MP5K out of his bag. After that, he smears some black facepaint over his eyes and pulls on a skull mask. After all that, he slaps a mag into his subgun and smacks the charging handle with a satisfying clack of the action.

    Now, he's properly spooky and tacticool.

    "I got another op coming up soon. I want you two on it. Possibly 'tana, but after last time I dunno how she'd feel." He says tersely. "It's also a rescue mission, if that helps."

    And thus, the cat, the goose and the ghost leave the Adventurer's Guild, mission in hand.
    "Yeah?" Mau says, genuinely curious. "Man I'm pretty sure I haven't been offworld yet. Should be interesting." She decides. "Gimme the deets later." She says as the party heads out. As for what she has for Ghost... She has something for Illumiel as well.
    "So like, I have to hunt down everyone that came along with us but..." This is when Mau pulls out two sets of dogtags almost identical to her own.
    They are a shiny platinum color much like the new dogtags she wears.
    "I had to pull some clout and really arm twist for this, but everyone who came with me to save the world are now official members of the world's Adventurer's guild.
    "Platinum Rank. That's as high as it gets." She says passing them over. One set obviously has 'Ghost' tagged on it while the other says 'Illumiel'.
    "I've got Suvdaa's, Matsu's, Itana's, and Mao Mao's too. Unless you wanna hold on to Itana's set." She offers Illumiel while the party heads out of town.
    It's not long before they reach the pass, and find signs of a campfire that someone tried to hide.
    "Okay so. If I were a bandit. Where would I hide from the big bad Platinum Adventerurs out to find me?" Mau purrs playfully as she starts following the tracks and signs of passing.

    Ghost takes the dog tags with a perked eyebrow. Not much different than the ones he already has. "Platinum, eh? I'm touched." He really is, despite the flat tone. Without a movement wasted he dons the tags on his neck. "Thanks, Mau." Ghost says, his normal gruff and deep tone getting more than a little warm for once. There's hints of a smile behind that mask, if one looks close enough.

    The trip to the pass is uneventful thankfully, and Ghost kneels at the camp, putting his scouting training to good use. He'll start looking for tracks, determining how long it's been since someone's been there by inspecting the fire, maybe looking for discarded food. "Looks like they were in a rush."

    "You shall have my blades, Sir Ghost." states Illumiel to Ghost's pitch almost instantly. When Itana's mentioned though, she frowns softly. "Perhaps it would be best to leave her out of it... She was very distraught over the last outing to your world."

    Then the guild tags come out, and the smallest Avenger blinks. "Thou shouldstn't have, Lady Mau... my contributions were part of His design, nothing more." She does take Itana's to pass along though, the Angel's own being stored in a pouch on her belt for safe keeping.

    Closing in on the area, Illumiel draws one of the items from her belt, a crowbar with a very worn Lambda symbol etched into it. "These fools seem incompetant at best. How they managed to kidnap the child is a conundrum beyond my knowing."

    Mau eyes that crowbar.
    She knows not to question it as Illumiel takes the Adventurer's Guild tags.
    "Yeah well I did." She says when told she shouldn't have. "Those'll get you almost any job you could want on this world." She points out. "Platinum Rank adventurers are supposed to be skilled enough to empty a kingdom's coffers as their price if they wanted." She points out before pausing. "Just. Don't do that people don't actually like that." 
    Anyway.
    "Looks like they packed up fast yeah. Let's follow the trac--" Mau starts to speak when there's a scream in the distance. She breaks into a run.
    What she finds is uh...
    A bandit face down in the dirt, a heavy rock dangles from a rope from a branch above.
    There's another bandit crying out as he's uh. ... In a pit. That he can't climb out of.
    "... Shit I think we have a Home Alone situation, you two." Mau points out.
    What the hell is a Home Alone situation?!

    "Lucky you gave it to me, and not a PMC, yeah?" God knows, Graves would absolutely let this status get to his head. Shadow Company already demanded a high price for their services. Platinum status would make that egotistical prick a tyrant.

    Ghost glances at the crowbar. He has no idea WHY that looks familiar.

    Better not to ask.

    "Yeah. 's her choice." Ghost says curtly. He keeps poking through some of the tracks, rushing towards the source of the scream. He stops at the pit and he stares inside, pointing a flashlight down it.

    "Looks like the rubbish is half done."

    "My needs are few, and my wants unimportant, my asking price would befit perhaps, the lowest of ranks instead." remarks Illumiel, before she too shifts into a sprint a half-step behind Mau.

    The angel blinks, then looks at Mau. "Are you insinuating that this place is the child's home?" she asks, clearly not understanding the reference.

    "I wouldn't have given it to you if I didn't think you couldn't be responsible with it." Mau notes to Ghost as she pokes the KO'd bandit with her scabbarded blade.
    "No." She answers Illumiel as another scream of dismay sounds out.
    Not far from the initial traps is another bandit, now trapped in a heavy cage of logs that must have dropped on him from above.
    "Home Alone is a--... Uh... A-ancient tale... About a child that got left behind while their family went on a journey. Bandits invaded the kid's home and he used his cleverness, wits, a load of traps, and a lot of cranial trauma to deter the bandits until the poli-- city guard could be roused to arrest them."
    She pauses.
    "The story was so good apparently it got a sequel where the kid ends up in a big city all by himself with his parents' credit car-- bag of gold and deters the bandits again in a bigger house with more traps. Anyway."
    Oh hey there's a bandit tied to a tree.
    "She's a monster!" The bandit wails.

    Illumiel approaches the caged bandit. "Think thineself fortunate these bars prevent a proper swing, lest I club thine skull in for this idiocy. Kidnapping a child is a punishable offence. Thine judge, jury and executioner merely seemeth as thine target also." she says, japping the bandid with the pointier end of the crowbar through the bars. "Where is she, thou must knoweth a general direction in which to seek."

    There's silence from the 141 commando as Mau explains the situation, why the bandit's in this situation. He thinks back to watching TV with his niece, usually on Christmas, and that movie. And then, a chuckle escapes Ghost.

    "Scratch my last. Rubbish definitely took itself out tonight." He says, approaching the other bandit. All 6'3" of Ghost looms over the bandit in a way an adorable angel and a cat girl just can't, especially with that mask of death staring at the bandit with an unblinking stare. He says nothing, just flicks the safety on his SMG while he keeps a hand hovering over his knife.

    Bandits here, obviously know what can be done with a knife. There's plenty of ways to skin a cat.

    Mau doesn't need to loom when she has big scary men like Ghost to loom for her. The bandit grunts as he's jabbed by Illumiel, and then starts to sweat whem he sees Ghost's knife.
    Illumiel's TERROR inspiring aura is not helping. And then there's the platinum tags on all three adventurers.
    "Th- that way." He says jerking his head in a direction. "Bloody hell there were ten of us and she's taking us out like flies." He huffs.
    SO heading that way...
    It's not hard to find several more unconscious bandits before the PARTY runs into a series of traps themselves.
    A taut branch snaps and swings out with stunning force and speed.
    Mau sidesteps it as casually as a cat just padding right on by.
    A net attempts to drop on Illumiel.
    And Ghost's trained eye will likely notice the tripwire set to drop a swinging log.
    The party should fare much better than the bandits.
    "Crap!" A tiny voice can be heard from the bushes. "I think I'm out of traps..."

    The net meets a rapid swiping of that crowbar... it cuts through the netting like a tempered sword blade, leaving slight singe marks on the severed ends from the licks of Blessed Flame that coat the tool for a brief moment with each slash.

    The voice earns the Angel's response. "We are not your enemies. We came in search of you and your kidnappers. Your family wishes to see you safely returned." she says, tucking her weapon back into her belt and holding up her tags, for the hidden girl to see. "We come from the guild."

    "Count yourself lucky." Ghost growls in the bandit's ear, leaning in threateningly. "We'll be back for you later." Then, he advances through the forest. A series of traps is no problem to Ghost, his keen senses alert him to a tripwire, and he slowly holds out his hands to stop Lumi and Mau before they trigger it.

    "Not gonna lie, kid, you're not bad at this." He says, cutting the tripwire after making sure it's not going to go off the moment he touches it with his knife. "Ten men against you? Shite odds for them." He pulls out his platinum tag for the girl to see.

    There's a moment. A long beat's pause before Ghost holds up his Guild tags and the girl can see Illumiel's and Mau's as well that she peeks out the bushes.
    "You're really with the Guild? ... Okay stay where you are, I had about ten more traps all over this clearing."
    Mau is silent for a beat at that.
    "Shit, I think I might have died." Mau laughs as a small Gnome girl comes peeking out of the brush and dusts off her dress.
    "Haha those guys were totally hosed." Mau says setting her hands on her hips as the girl carefully navigates her FIELD OF DEATH to join the party.
    "Alright, let's get her back home. I'll tell the Guard where they can find and round up the bandits she handled.

    Ghost, if allowed, will let the girl ride on his shoulders on the way back. He's not all scary. Just to the bad guys. "You did good tonight, kid. I'd sure hate to be those bastards." He says. Ghost's shoulders are steady as a rock, the gnome won't have to worry about falling over.

    "A powerful warrior in the making." agrees Illumiel, walking a decent distance away. She can't really turn off her aura, but most of her allies are shielded from its effects just through sheer Heroic Status, or something. "I must away to attent to Itana and my sister... give my share of the reward to the child. She certainly earned it."