Closed [The Purging]Missing[Snaeha]

[Aranta]

Aranta had noticed the lack of attention he was gathering as well. For a marketplace, he had expected much more activity, and it concerned him that there was little noise and less movement. "I agree," he said, his voice just as quiet as Snaeha's; the unnatural silence of the marketplace was making his fur stand on end. As he and Snaeha walked, they passed a couple of groups huddled together and murmuring-- Aranta strained his ears to listen. "Strange, they just--" "No scent, no sign of anything--" "So young..." "They won't survive for long." It took Aranta a moment to piece together what he'd heard-- No scent and no sign suggested something(or more likely, someone) had disappeared. Add in the "so young" and "won't survive for long", and it made it likely that... Frowning, Aranta laid a hand on Snaeha's shoulder. "I think there are pups missing," he murmured. "People are talking about someone vanishing and not being able to survive."

[Snaeha Datura]

Snaeha turned sharply as Aranta spoke in a dull, low voice. "Missing?" She repeated, startled. The idea of missing children made Snaeha's spine tingle with an uncomfortable coldness, then to add the suggestion they wouldn't survive...

Touching Aranta's arm, Snaeha led him towards an amethyst stall, filled with jewellery and other shiny, precious things. The vendor of the stall, a middle-aged woman draped in glittering jewels, smiled sadly to Snaeha. The merchant offered her open hands to Snaeha, who clasped them gently in a sign of mutual appreciation. "Ah, Sibeaha. I am glad to see you in these worrying times." the merchant's golden eyes flickered to Aranta, and she nodded tightly, this time speaking in Common, "Good day to you, too."

"And what troubling news is that, Mabda?" Snaeha asked gently in Common, tagging the respectful name at the end of her tentative question. "Aranta and I were just commenting--"

The merchant silenced Snaeha by nodding sadly. "A child is missing - gone, without a trace. A search party is currently being organised, but of course everybody is already fearing the worse." Those strange golden eyes flickered once again to Aranta, and the Symenestra vendor leaned in to speak to the Zith and redhead in an even quieter voice, "have you heard of the family claiming their surrogate was haunting them? The child is from that family." She straightened herself quickly, as if she did want to be caught gossiping about such matters.

Snaeha's mouth hung open slightly, her violet eyes wide with apprehension. Yes, she had heard about the family who was apparently haunted by the ghost of their last surrogate, but she had dismissed the account. Usually such tales were used to ensure children behaved or went to bed on time. But never before had something like this happened. The only response Snaeha could muster was a quiet, "how awful."

But then her mind caught an idea, and she turned to Aranta almost frantically. "We should help! We could..." She paused, thoughts ticking through her mind. It was her job to help children and infants; she could hardly turn away from the responsibility now. "Maybe we could look at the Blue Grotto? My brothers and I used to swim in the water and there was always kids going missing around there--" she realised the enthusiasm in her voice could be misattributed for excitement over the current sad affairs. She was quick to emphasise that this was to the case: "I mean... they were hiding, they never actually disappeared. Maybe this child simply... got lost."

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[Aranta]

Aranta didn't pay much attention to the way the woman's voice changed as she greeted him; instead, he waited only slightly impatiently; for the most part, he was content to let Snaeha do the talking. People would be more likely to speak to a Symenestra than to a Zith, after all. When the woman mentioned a haunting, it took Aranta a moment to remember that a haunting was when a spirit supposedly stayed around and targeted someone or somewhere. Personally, Aranta didn't believe in that sort of thing-- once something was dead, it was gone for good; there would be nothing left besides the body. Still, he could tell that the thought obviously affected both women, so he kept quiet. Until, that was, Snaeha turned to him and suggested they search for the missing child. He mulled the idea over for a moment before nodding. With his hearing, even down in the Grotto, perhaps he could pick up something. "I will go with you," he said. "I can hear many things-- maybe I can hear this pup as well."

[Snaeha Datura]

She appreciated his offer to help - it was somewhat reminiscent of their first meeting. "Thank you, Aranta." Although it did slightly disturb her how he referred to the children as pups - was that what his kind called their young? She wondered this for a brief moment, but decided that he meant no harm by the term - she trusted him too much to consider that.

The golden-eyed vendor nodded along with their conversation, "your efforts will be greatly appreciated. I wish I could do more." Snaeha doubted this: for as long as she had known the merchant, the woman had never seemed the sort to bother herself with physical labour.

Nevertheless, she bid the vendor a fond farewell, and turned away from the stand. "We should probably make our way to the Grotto. I imagine people are starting to congregate together down there." In any other scenario, the Zith's presence would have probably been met with a mixture of suspicion and surprise. But in Snaeha's company - a fellow, trust Symenestra - he would no doubt be a welcome aid to the search party.

"Just remember," she warned quietly, her voice even and slow but her smile quick and joking, "take it easy."

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[Aranta]

Aranta nodded in agreement, but the serious look on his face was replaced by a playful snarl when Snaeha teased him. "'Take it easy,' she says," he muttered to himself in Zithanese. "Pah. Great Rending will take my wings back first." In colonies, male Zith were the protectors-- they did most of the hunting, and protected the rest of the colony, particularly the females and pups, from threats. As a full-blooded male Zith, Aranta could not simply stand by and do nothing if a pup of any race was in danger. Well, maybe he could have before he'd spent a few seasons among the Symenestra. Still, the Zith and the Symenestra made their way to the Blue Grotto-- there were already a few Symenestra gathered around. Aranta strained his ears, but couldn't make out much besides the sound of water and footsteps echoing off of the stone walls. "Rinsink," he spat. "Too much noise." OOCSo I just made up a curse for Aranta... XD Oh well. Also, anything in italicized letters and quotation marks is in Zithanese.

[Snaeha Datura]

Snaeha giggled as Aranta muttered away in Zithanese. It was a language completely unlike any other Snaeha knew to exist; jitters of sounds that she could hear, and others that she was not even aware of. Fortunately, she guessed by his face that Aranta had taken her jest light-heartedly.

Indeed, the Blue Grotto was bustling with Symenestra men and women, all looking concerned. To Snaeha's frustration, half seemed to be too busy standing around and talking to actually look for the missing child. "Somethings are more important than gossip." She muttered in Symenos, shaking her head.

Although Snaeha lacked the hearing of a Zith, even she could understand how the gentle murmur of the crowd was too loud to listen out for any helpful sounds. "Let's move away around anyone else." Most were standing next to the entrance to the cavern that formed the Blue Grotto, which was usually impenetrable to non-Symenestra individuals - those without wings, at least. Once they had climbed, or flew, into the cavern, Snaeha began padding around the edge of the water. The most obvious place to begin looking was the bottom of the pool, which was easy to see for both Symenestra and Zith eyes. Snaeha strained to see as far as she could, her eyes scanning the sandy bottom of the pool. "Nothing." She whispered, to herself as much as to Aranta. "Do you hear anything?"

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[Aranta]

Aranta kneeled so that he could lay one ear against the ground, listening intently. He couldn't hear anything beyond what one would expect to hear in a cave, and he shook his head. "Nothing," he said, frowning in concentration. He remained kneeling, but let his gaze roam the cavern. He could see well in the dark, but he didn't see anything. "Would help if I had a scent," Aranta murmured. If he had a scent-- maybe from a piece of clothing of the child's-- then he might be able to find a trail. Zith weren't as good at tracking as dogs, but they could do a decent enough job with a strong enough trail.

[Snaeha Datura]

Snaeha considered Aranta's suggestion. It was a fair point; if the Zith truly could locate the missing child through smell, it was an option that should not be ignored. But the parents of the child were unlikely to be willing to share clothing of their missing child to a Zith who they did not know. "Perhaps," she said slowly, unsure how to word the issues attached to his idea, "but maybe that could be a last resort. It... could prove difficult to get the parents to part with a piece of their child's clothing."

She was still straining to see further into the glassy water. It was not the dark that was the issue, but the sheer volume of water in the cavern. Perhaps the area had already been investigated, but Snaeha did not want to leave the water unchecked, not if she was already present in the cavern to do it herself. "Can Zith swim?" She asked, somewhat suddenly, before shrugging out of the outermost layer of her silk clothes. As with all Symenestra clothing, what Snaeha wore was extremely light and would not hold her down, even if wet. But at the she time, she hardly wanted to risk ruining her clothes... although it would give her a good reason to go shopping.

Having partly undressed - but still retaining most of her modesty - Snaeha crouched down on the cool rock surface. She reached forward and brushed the skin of the water with her fingertips; it was as warm and still as always. Looking up to Aranta, Snaeha explained herself: "the water reaches out too far to see the bottom. You never know, there might be something out there." With that final word, Snaeha allowed her slim frame to slide across the rock and down into the water. Once in, she kicked her legs steadily to remain afloat.

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[Aranta]

Aranta nodded in agreement; it made sense. Even though Aranta had been living among the Symenestra for a couple of seasons now, he still had done little to endear himself to the local population, preferring to stay by himself for the most part. Snaeha was, perhaps, the first true friend he'd made since moving to Kalinor. Aranta eyed the water distrustfully. "We can... But many prefer not to." Aranta among them. The water made his fur feel weird, and stick to his body in odd ways. Still, he followed the Symenestra into the water; she was right. They couldn't see all the way into the bottom of the lake from the shore, even with the water as clear as it was. They would have to get further out, closer to the middle. Taking a deep breath, Aranta folded his wings as close to his body as possible, kicking softly with his legs to keep himself afloat as he used his arms to pull himself forwards.

[Snaeha Datura]

In truth, Snaeha was not the greatest fan of swimming, either. She enjoyed being in the water, the sense of weightlessness and how the water made her skin sparkle with droplets, but she detested the hassle afterwards. It was the lengthy process of drying and moisturising her skin after being in the water that irritated her the most. Still, some things were more important than even Snaeha's beauty regime. "I'm surprised you're so aquatic, my winged friend." she chuckled, leaning backwards so her red hair became an even darker crimson. Then, as if she only just remembered his injury, Snaeha paddled toward the Zith and placed a tentative hand in the damp bandage. "Your wound will need redressing once we get out, but the water will help keep it clean."

With an efficient nod, she began swimming, her arms pulling her skinny body through the water and her legs kicking out behind her. After a chime or so, she stopped swimming and looked down the clear water. The sandy bottom looked like a mirage through the blueness, but there was clearly no body lying beneath her. "This could take a while to search...." there was another part of her plan Snaeha had not considered either: "what exactly do we do if we find a body?"
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